SCRANTON -- Kathleen Kane, now officially a former attorney general, worked her last day in the Scranton field office on Lackawanna Avenue.
Kane becomes the second state attorney general to resign amid a political scandal. The first also calls Lackawanna County home, but he insists the similarities end there.
Former attorney general Ernie Preate may know best how Kathleen Kane is feeling right now.
From his law office in Scranton, Preate recalled one of the darkest times in his life.
In 1995, Preate pled guilty to election fraud charges and went on to serve almost a year in federal prison. It’s something he thinks about all the time, but more so this week.
“Every time you pick up the paper, or even your station, (it) says ‘former attorney general went to jail,’ so my sin is always before me,” Preate said.
Aside from their home county and the felonies they've each faced, Preate says he doesn't have much in common with Kathleen Kane. He says she hasn't shown an acceptance of responsibility.
“No one went into the grand jury, except her, and lied. I don’t care if it’s man or woman. She’s in there. She’s supposed to tell the truth, and she didn’t.”
Preate thinks Kane is a victim of a lack of political experience and should have learned from his experience.
“There were lawyers in this town that advised her to do that. She rejected them! They were friends of hers. She rejected that advice. As a result, that’s what we went through. She put the whole commonwealth through this, and she’s only wound up hurting herself.”
Preate shared a piece of political advice Kane could have used a few years ago.
“People that don’t like you are going to come at you, and the way you respond is not vengefully, seeking retribution and revenge, and then committing crimes to cover it up and perjuring yourself,” he said.
Preate says Kane should have followed his path: apologize and take a deal. He doesn't buy her previous claims that the charges against her were political retaliation.
“It’s going to be really difficult for her to do that because there’s been a lot animosity built up for what she did.”
Preate's crimes were committed when he was still district attorney in Lackawanna County and had to with falsely reporting campaign contributions. He took a plea deal and served almost a year in federal prison.
“It was foolish. It was stupid. It was wrong, and I apologize to the people of the community and the state."
Back in 1995, Preate vowed to serve his time and then become one of the state's best defense attorneys. He's been in private practice since 2001 and is confident he's close to that goal.
“I sincerely accepted what I was handed, my fate. I refused to commit suicide like some people thought I was going to commit suicide. I refused to bury my head in the sand and hide away. I didn’t write any books with an explanation of, ‘Oh, I’m really innocent.’ No, I made a mistake.”
Preate never lost his law license. It was a part of his plea deal. We don't know yet if Kane will be able to keep hers. That will likely be determined at her sentencing which is scheduled for October.
