Former NY Police Commissioner Kerik Gets Four-Year Sentence

A federal judge exceeded recommended guidelines when he sentenced former New York police Commissioner Bernard Kerik today to four years in prison.

Kerik had pleaded guilty to eight charges, including tax fraud and lying to public officials in an effort to obtain a cabinet position, according to the New York Times and the Associated Press. The plea agreement had called for a sentence of 27 to 33 months in prison, but U.S. District Judge Stephen Robinson said the situation called for a greater sentence.

“I think it’s fair to say that with great power comes great responsibility and great consequences,” Robinson said.

The lies concerned Kerik’s denial that he had any financial dealings with companies doing business in New York City. Actually, he had accepted free renovations at his apartment from a company seeking city work.

Kerik had been hailed as a hero after the Sept. 11 attacks, but Robinson said Kerik exploited the tragedy. "The fact that Mr. Kerik would use that event [Sept. 11] for personal gain and aggrandizement is a dark place in the soul for me," Robinson said.