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Former PA Attorney General Kane Loses Bid To Delay Jail Sentence

Matt Rourke
/
AP

Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane on Wednesday lost an eleventh-hour request to be given more time before she must report to jail and begin serving a 10- to 23-month perjury and obstruction sentence.

A county judge moved quickly, turning down Kane's motion about an hour after it was filed. Kane had sought a hearing or conference, saying a "brief extension" would help her nail down arrangements for her high-school age sons.

The judge's denial repeated her direction issued a day earlier, telling Kane to report by 9 a.m. Thursday to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

Kane's lawyer, William Brennan, said he was aware of the judge's order but offered no immediate reaction.

Kane was serving as the first woman and first Democrat to be elected attorney general in Pennsylvania history when she was convicted in 2016 of leaking grand jury material and lying about it. She resigned after being convicted.

She has remained free since then on $75,000 bail, pending appeals, but on Monday the state Supreme Court declined to take up her case. On Tuesday, Montgomery County Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy granted prosecutors' request to revoke her bail.

Kane, 52, argued in seeking the delay that she has primary custody of her 16- and 17-year-old sons. She said the additional time would allow her to "solidify" arrangements with her ex-husband and family. She lives in Scranton.

"Her ex-husband supports this motion and will provide information through proffer or testimony should the court deem necessary," Brennan wrote in the motion directed to Demchick-Alloy.

In her Tuesday order, Demchick-Alloy said there was no longer any reason for Kane to remain free. Brennan had asked that that order be put on hold while the judge considered whether to grant Kane more time.

Brennan said in an interview earlier Wednesday that Kane did not know when "the other shoe was going to drop."

He said Kane could ask the high court to reconsider its decision but that was not likely.

"This is a human problem more than a legal issue," Brennan said, adding "she's prepared to put this matter behind her and move on with her life."

A spokeswoman for the Montgomery County district attorney's office declined comment.