REGION: "Duke" associate to face judge

Thomas Kontogiannis faces 10 years for washing bribe money for the former congressman

By TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer | Thursday, May 15, 2008 8:15 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- A vastly wealthy New York financier who admitted laundering bribe money intended for former U.S. Rep Randy "Duke" Cunningham is set to learn his sentence Friday.

Federal prosecutors want Thomas Kontogiannis to serve 10 years behind bars for taking money from defense contractors and using it to pay off a mortgage on Cunningham's Rancho Santa Fe home.

Kontogiannis admitted in February that he hid about $1 million in loan transactions in the real estate deal that ultimately brought down the North County Republican.

Kontogiannis' attorneys are asking that U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns give the 59-year-old man a lighter sentence, one that might include minimal prison time followed by house arrest.

They cited Kontogiannis' "quite severe" medical condition and "relatively brief life expectancy," raising the specter that Kontogiannis could die if he is sent to prison.

The international businessman ---- who prosecutors have said is worth more than $300 million ---- was supposed to be sentenced late last year, but elected to undergo heart bypass surgery just days before he was to face Burns in court.

Letters from Kontogiannis' doctors indicate he suffers from diabetes and heart problems.

Kontogiannis himself has asked Burns to cut him a break. In a letter filed with the court last week, Kontogiannis acknowledged placing himself "in the worst position in my life" and said he is "truly the sorriest man in the world for my conduct."

"I accept and take full responsibility for my wrongful conduct and blame absolutely no one else." Kontogiannis wrote in the letter dated May 8 and filed with the federal court last week.

In December, prosecutors contended in court documents that Kontogiannis was unrepentant, and continued to run an unrelated $100 million mortgage fraud scheme for months after pleading guilty in the political corruption case. They called him a "one-man crime wave."

The Cunningham matter marks Kontogiannis' third guilty plea to bribery-related crime.

In 1994, the Long Island resident pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in federal court in an overseas visa scam. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges relating to a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme in New York.

Kontogiannis received probation in each case.

This time, though, Kontogiannis' attorneys acknowledged in court documents that they expected Burns might impose time behind bars for their client.

Thus far, Burns has not gone easily on the men convicted in what turned out to be the largest congressional corruption case ever uncovered, with Cunningham admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes from competing defense contractors.

Burns handed a contrite Cunningham a sentence of eight years, four months in 2006. And in February, he gave former Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes a 12-year sentence. A jury convicted Wilkes of conspiracy, money laundering, bribery and wire fraud; he maintains that he is innocent.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.