Corrupt prison official gets 2 years

Fighting back tears and apologizing to his teenage daughters, the former head of the Illinois prison system was sentenced to two years in federal prison Wednesday for taking payoffs from lobbyists.

"What I did was absolutely wrong," said Donald Snyder, who admitted pocketing $50,000 from lobbyists when he was director of the Illinois Department of Corrections. He said he hoped his conviction on the charges would not bias employers against his daughters when they grow up and look for jobs. "I'm sorry, girls," he said, turning to the bench where they were sitting.

As he tried to finish his statement, his face turned dark red, he grimaced and was unable to speak. Judge James B. Zagel chastised Snyder, who pleaded guilty, volunteered to be a federal witness, secretly recorded corrupt conversations and testified at the trial of one of the lobbyists.

"I didn't believe much of your testimony and I didn't believe much of your testimony because of your claimed lack of memory," Zagel told him.

He said Snyder diminished the stature of government officials by setting a terrible example and making people doubt their integrity. Snyder admitted that he took $30,000 from Larry Sims, a lobbyist for two vendors.

He said he pocketed up to $20,000 from two other lobbyists, former Cook County undersheriff John Robinson and Michael J. Mahoney. Sims and Robinson have pleaded guilty. Mahoney was acquitted in a bench trial before Zagel, who said he didn't believe Snyder's testimony.