Judge Huvelle Was Not Amused

I did some coverage of the cynical games Steve Griles played to try to get the 5 months prison time turned into a bunch of community service for his own fake non-profit. I suspected such games would not go over well with Judge Huvelle–who, after all, is the one who tacked 3 months on top of Bob Ney’s plea agreement because of his violation of the trust of public service.

So I’m not surprised she went tough on the cynical Griles, doubling the prison time in his plea agreement.

"You held a position of trust as number two in the Department ofInterior and I will hold you to the highest standard," she told Griles."I find that even now you continue to minimize and try to excuse yourconduct and the nature of your misstatements."

Good for Huvelle–Griles not only lied to the Senate, but he sold away our nation’s resources to his closest friends, the resource industry.

I’m curious whether getting a harsh sentence might make Griles think seriously about cooperating on the other, more serious side of the affairs he’s involved in. He is surely a subject of interest in the investigation into the royalties games that DOI played, not least since he and his current wife got a house of the deal. In the Abramoff side, Griles refused to cooperate–perhaps this will make him more cooperative.