SAN DIEGO -- Randy "Duke" Cunningham's five-year saga of greed and corruption came to a tear-filled ending Friday when the former 50th Congressional District lawmaker was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.84 million in back taxes.

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"Your honor, I have ripped my life to shreds," the 64-year-old Cunningham told U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns during a tearful 10-minute address to a packed courtroom. "I made a very wrong turn. I will spend every day for the rest of my life seeking to atone."

After hearing arguments from defense attorney K. Lee Blalack and the three assistant U.S. attorneys who prosecuted the case, Burns sentenced Cunningham to eight years and four months. Prosecutors said it was the longest sentence ever given to a U.S. congressman.

The judge rejected Cunningham's request for time to visit his 91-year-old mother before reporting to prison, saying that Friday was "judgment day" and ordering the tarnished war hero to be taken into immediate custody by U.S. marshals.

Cunningham pleaded guilty to bribery and tax evasion charges Nov. 28, admitting he took more than $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.

During his address to the court, a subdued and repentant Cunningham said he has placed his life in the hands of God, and at times in recent months wondered if he would take his own life.

"Some days, I didn't know if I could cope with the pain."

None of Cunningham's three adult children were in the courtroom, nor was his estranged wife, Nancy.

Cunningham told the court his wife, who has not been charged with any crimes, had no knowledge of his misdeeds as they were taking place.

At one point, he turned toward prosecutors and pleaded with them to leave Nancy Cunningham alone.

Federal prosecutors had sought a maximum 10-year sentence for the former congressman.

"He is the first-ever member of Congress to be convicted of demanding and receiving more than $2.4 million in bribes," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Forge said after the hearing. "Here was a man who had just about everything yet he demanded more."

Defense attorney Blalack argued for a six-year sentence during the three-hour hearing at the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego.

Blalack argued Cunningham had acknowledged his guilt and cooperated with authorities. He said the former congressman's Vietnam War record and charitable act merited a six-year sentence.

"This man has been humbled beyond belief," Blalack said. "The question is, how much is enough?"

Falling down

Cunningham appeared a defeated shell of a man Friday, one that was held up by his attorneys in more ways than one.

On his way into the courthouse, Cunningham stumbled and fell as two cameramen filming his arrival tripped and fell in front of him.

When he first entered the court, Cunningham, wearing a dark suit and looking frail and nervous, was greeted by several well-wishers, including U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon.

At precisely 1 p.m., Burns entered the wood-paneled courtroom packed with more than 100 spectators and dozens of reporters.

First to address the court was Blalack, the Washington attorney who has represented Cunningham since he came under scrutiny in June after it was reported that defense contractor Mitchell Wade purchased his Del Mar Heights home in late 2003 for $700,000 more than he would sell it for less than a year later.

During his 30-minute argument, Blalack recounted Cunningham's service during the Vietnam War in which he became one of only two ace pilots during that conflict by shooting down five enemy fighters.

Blalack said the longtime GOP lawmaker has been estranged from his wife and his family since the first revelation of his wrongdoing and that a 10-year prison sentence would be akin to a death sentence because of Cunningham's age and medical condition, which includes recurring prostate cancer.

"He agrees his conduct is a violation of the public trust and his sentence should be severe enough to send a message," Blalack said.

But prosecutor Forge said Cunningham deserved the maximum sentence because of the five years he took bribes starting in 2000.

"He committed crime after crime because he wanted more."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Halpern argued that Cunningham effectively turned two "insignificant businessmen" into major defense contractors with Pentagon work that wasn't necessary and took money from other vital defense programs.

"The defendant sold out his office," Halpern said.

The two contractors he referred to were defense firm founder Mitchell Wade of Washington's MZM Inc., and Brent Wilkes, owner of a Poway defense firm called ADCS. Wade pleaded guilty to bribery and election fraud a week ago and faces 11 years in prison. Wilkes remains under investigation, as does New York developer Thomas Kontogiannis and his son-in-law, John T. Michael.

Prosecutors point to menu

At one point during his address, Halpern waved a plastic evidence envelope containing the "bribe menu" that Cunningham used to lay out his price for securing Pentagon work for the defense contractors.

"It was this memorandum that memorialized the price of betrayal," Halpern said. "He failed to put the nation's interests ahead of his own greed."

In responding to Cunningham's statement that he had made a wrong turn, Burns said it was much more.

"It wasn't a one-time lapse," the judge said to Cunningham. "It wasn't a one time U-turn. You made a U-turn and kept going for five years."

Outside the courthouse after the sentencing, Rick Gwin, special agent in charge of the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service western regional office, said that he is not convinced Cunningham has been fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

"I don't know that we are necessarily getting all the cooperation we should from him," Gwin said. "Maybe once he is sitting in a jail cell we will get more cooperation."

Blalack said he is hopeful that further cooperation with federal investigators may result in a reduction in the prison sentence. The federal prison system allows only 54 days credit per year for good behavior. Assuming he earns good-behavior credit and there is no further reduction in his sentence, Cunningham will have to serve seven years and one month.

As he left the courthouse, Congressman Hunter said he continues to worry about Cunningham and his family.

"I was here as Duke's friend," Hunter said. "Our job now is to help his family make sure Duke stays alive."

'Sad but well-deserved'

Prosecutors were less merciful.

Speaking to reporters in front of a bank of microphones after the sentencing, Forge said he hoped the prison term would help restore public confidence in elected officials.

"Frankly, today's sentencing is a sad but well-deserved end to Mr. Cunningham's career," Forge said.

Once investigators discovered the bribe menu, which Forge cited as his most "flagrant act," prosecutors said they knew Cunningham's fate was sealed.

Cunningham will be held initially at the Metropolitan Corrections Center in San Diego until the middle of next week and then transferred to a Federal Bureau of Prisons medical facility for an evaluation before being assigned to a prison.

Burns said he would recommend that Cunningham serve his time at the federal correctional facility operated by a private contractor at Taft near Bakersfield.

In addition to his prison sentence, Cunningham has to file amended tax returns for the years 2000 through 2004. To meet his tax bill, Burns ordered he pay $1,500 a month while in prison and $1,000 a month after his release. At that rate, it would take 140 years to pay the $1.84 million bill.

Cunningham's remaining source of income is from his military and congressional pension.

In the end, Burns said he carefully pondered all of the evidence, written arguments from prosecutors and Blalack and the more than 40 letters sent to him asking for leniency.

"What you did was aggravated in scope, duration and nature," Burns said.

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426 or wbennett@nctimes.com.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6623 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.

Quotables

"Your honor, I have ripped my life to shreds."

Former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham before being sentenced

"It wasn't a one-time lapse. …It wasn't a one time U-turn. You made a U-turn and kept going for five years."

Judge Larry Alan Burns to Cunningham

"Here was a man who had just about everything yet he demanded more."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Forge

"Eight years and four months is a long sentence for a 64-year-old man, for something that some would consider to be a white-collar crime. But the public trust must be kept and it wasn't kept here."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista

"Maybe once he is sitting in a jail cell we will get more cooperation."

Rick Gwin, special agent in charge of the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service

"Forgiveness and mercy are important. They should not be just for oppressed people but for those who do something wrong."

Father Joe Carroll, advocate for the homeless and friend of Cunningham