Lawmaker's Career Ends In Disgrace

For months, a longtime Republican congressman denied taking millions of dollars in bribes. On Monday, Randy "Duke" Cunningham admitted it was all true.

He resigned from Congress after pleading guilty to graft and now faces a long prison term.

To a biography that notes he was the first fighter ace of the Vietnam War, the top instructor at the Top Gun school, and the recipient of two Silver Stars and 15 air medals, the California congressman must now add admitted felon as well.

"The truth is, I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions and most importantly, the trust of my friends and my family,"

In a stunning admission, Cunningham, 63, pled guilty to receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes that included over a million dollars in cash, antique Persian rugs, furniture, use of a yacht, club fees, a Rolls Royce and vacation expenses in exchange for steering defense contracts to two conspirators.

The aging veteran at least pulled no punches in his confession.

"In my life, I have had great joy and great sorrow," he said. "And now I know great shame. I can't undo what I've done, but I can atone."

That atonement started immediately. Cunningham was led away from his press conference for fingerprinting.

But Cunningham, who could get up to 10 years in prison at sentencing Feb. 27 on charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and fraud, and tax evasion, may not be the only person ensnared in the case. Prosecutors have indicated they have more than him in mind.

"There's more work to be done," Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Halpern said Monday. Cunningham has promised to cooperate.

But CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen says Cunningham shouldn't expect the court to go easy on him.

"The problem for Cunningham at sentencing is that he can't really argue that his many years of public service warrant leniency since the charges against him, and what he pleaded guilty to, go to the very core of the quality and integrity of that service. He's in a no-win situation at sentencing and he probably knows it," Cohen said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office will have 14 days to set a date for an election to replace Cunningham. The election must be held within 120 days after that. The district, just north of San Diego, is heavily Republican.

The case began when authorities started investigating Cunningham's sale of his Del Mar house to defense contractor Mitchell Wade for $1,675,000. Wade sold the house nearly a year later for $975,000 — a loss of $700,000 in a hot real estate market.

The congressman already had announced in July — after the investigation became public — that he would not seek re-election next year. But until he entered his plea, he insisted he had done nothing wrong.
The 33-page guilty plea did not name the alleged conspirators, but details such as business addresses and occupations made some of their identities apparent. One was Mitchell Wade, who was the former president of MZM Inc., a Washington, D.C., firm that does classified intelligence work for the military.

In addition to buying Cunningham's home at an inflated price, Wade let him live rent-free on Wade's yacht, the Duke Stir, at a yacht club. Wade's company, MZM Inc., also donated generously to Cunningham's campaigns.

The documents suggest another conspirator was Brent Wilkes, an associate of Wade's who headed a defense contracting company called ADCS Inc. that also provided campaign cash and favors to Cunningham while reaping valuable contracts.

Another co-conspirator appears to be Thomas Kontogiannis, a New York developer. Cunningham wrote to prosecutors in 2000 on Kontogiannis' behalf when the developer was under investigation in a bribery and kickback scheme involving school computer contracts. Kontogiannis ultimately pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

Attorneys for Wilkes and Wade declined to comment. Kontogiannis' attorney did not return a call.

Cunningham admitted in the plea agreement to receiving $1.025 million to pay down the mortgage of a five-bedroom, eight-bathroom Spanish colonial estate he bought with money from the Del Mar home sale. He also acknowledged receiving $200,000 as a down payment for an Arlington, Va., condo.

Cunningham was allowed to remain free while he awaits sentencing. He also agreed to forfeit his mansion, more than $1.8 million in cash, and antiques and rugs.

He is the first congressman to leave office amid bribery allegations since 2002, when former Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of racketeering and accepting bribes.

The plea comes amid a series of GOP scandals: Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas had to step down as majority leader after he was indicted in a campaign finance case; a stock sale by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is being looked at by regulators; and Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff was indicted in the CIA leak case.