NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A federal judge has rejected former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland’s request to put an early end to his probation period, stemming from his second set of criminal convictions for hiding his consulting roles in political campaigns.
Rowland, who was released from prison in May 2018, asked that his three-year period of supervised release be cut short so he could more fully devote himself to his job with a prison ministry. He said he was barred in some states from escorting donors and volunteers into prisons because of his release status.
U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven said in a ruling Thursday that Rowland has been successful in raising money for Prison Fellowship despite the supervised release, and he hasn’t shown the probationary period jeopardizes his job. She also noted it was Rowland’s second release from prison.
“Given that this is Defendant’s second time around in the arena of criminal breach of public integrity laws, the supervisory term of release is neither too harsh nor inappropriately tailored to serve the general punishment goals,” Arterton wrote.
Prosecutors disputed Rowland’s claim that the supervised release prevented him from fulfilling his job duties, saying he has raised millions of dollars for the Christian group that ministers to convicts.
Rowland, 63, a Republican, served as governor from 1995 to 2004, when he resigned from office amid a corruption scandal that sent him to prison for 10 months. In May 2018, he was released nearly a year early from his 30-month sentence for conspiring to hide his consulting roles in two failed congressional campaigns.
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