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Eye On Boise

Prosecutors recommending five days jail, court costs, counseling for McGee

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Authorities are recommending that former Republican Sen. John McGee serve five days in jail, pay $500 in court costs and undergo private counseling in exchange for pleading guilty to disturbing the peace. According to court documents filed by McGee's attorney, both sides are also recommending McGee pay $960 in restitution and attend classes about having healthy relationships and setting appropriate boundaries. The court documents say McGee intends to plead guilty Tuesday to the charge, which is linked to sexual harassment allegations that resulted in his February departure from the Idaho Legislature. At the time of the sexual misconduct investigation, McGee was on probation following a 2011 drunken driving conviction. McGee is also expected to plead guilty to violating the terms of his probation during the hearing Tuesday.

Click below for a full report from AP reporter Jessie Bonner.

APNewsBreak: Lawyers want therapy, jail for McGee
By JESSIE L. BONNER, Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Attorneys plan to recommend Tuesday that former Republican Sen. John McGee serve five days in jail, pay $500 in court costs and undergo private counseling in exchange for pleading guilty to disturbing the peace, according to court documents.

According to a letter filed by McGee's attorney and obtained by The Associated Press, both sides are also recommending McGee pay $960 in restitution and attend classes about having healthy relationships and setting appropriate boundaries.

The charge is linked to sexual harassment allegations that resulted in McGee's departure from the Idaho Legislature earlier this year. McGee intends to plead guilty during a hearing Tuesday in 4th District Court, according to the letter filed by his attorney, Scott McKay.

In the Idaho Senate, McGee rose to the ranks of Majority Caucus Chairman before resigning in February after a Senate aide accused him of inappropriate sexual conduct in his Capitol office. McGee's offensive conduct disturbed "the peace or quiet of a person," according to court documents.

Under the proposed agreement, which is subject to court approval:

— The five-day jail sentence would include the option of inmate labor detail or community service to be completed within 180 days.

— The counseling would continue on a weekly basis for a minimum of 120 days following sentencing and address workplace behavior, relationships and boundaries.

— The $960 in restitution would be payable to the state's victims compensation program.

— McGee would also be under supervised probation for one year in Canyon County, an area he represented through four terms while in office.

At the time of the sexual misconduct investigation, McGee was on probation following an embarrassing 2011 drunken driving arrest and conviction.

The father of two was arrested last June after police said he took an SUV attached to a cargo trailer from the southwest Boise home of a stranger, got it stuck in a yard just down the street, and caused several thousand dollars in damage before falling asleep inside the vehicle. McGee pleaded guilty to driving under the influence as part of a plea agreement.

McGee is expected to acknowledge he violated the terms of his DUI probation during the hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

With that plea, McGee will have to forfeit the withheld judgment he received in the drunken driving case last summer when he was sentenced to 180 days in jail with all but five days suspended. The withheld judgment meant that the case wouldn't show up as a conviction on McGee's record.

Once the withheld judgment is forfeited and a conviction entered, the court could reinstate the remaining 175 days of McGee's drunken driving sentence. Attorneys, however, have recommended McGee serve a five-day jail term to run at the same time as the sentence proposed under the disturbing the peace charge.


Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
 



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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