Sentenced to 8 Years - No Special Treatment Expected for Cunningham

Former republican Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham was sentenced in federal court to eight years and four months in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors in return for smoothing the way for government contracts.

He may have once been counted among the leaders of the land, and he may have once been acclaimed as a war hero, but when he arrives at prison, Randy Cunningham will be just another prisoner, one of about 190,000 inmates now in the federal prison system.

Regardless of the lofty status he once held, Cunningham won't be granted any extraordinary considerations, according to Sandra Hijar, spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Of course, his eight year sentence is already substantially less than most pot smokers get but I guess that doesn't count.

What Cunningham will experience during his initial weeks is an orientation in which he is evaluated and introduced to the prison's rules and regulations, its program offerings and issued a handbook.

But first will come one of the harsh realities of prison ---- chief among them being a strip search including an examination of his body cavities. He will be told to remove any items in his pockets and to strip and then undergo the body search.

And why not? He's been sticking his dirty fist up the American people's ass for years. I hope they don't use any lubricant.

Once that is completed and he is issued prison garb, Cunningham must dress in front of the staff.

He will be required to take part in a "social interview" to determine if there are any nonmedical reasons he should not be housed with the prison's general population. Let's hope for genpop and he get's a 300 pound black man named Bubba for a cellmate --- and he loves older white men.

Federal prison inmates start jobs earning 12 cents an hour and can work their way up to 40 cents per hour. Hey, here's a novel idea -- why doesn't Randy stay in prison working at these wages until the entire $2.4 million is paid off?

But this has been a bad day for the dark side of the force -- and that's a good thing.