Chang, a New Jersey businessman now in prison for making illegal campaign donations to Torricelli, says he gave the lawmaker cash and gifts in exchange for the senator's help in business dealings overseas.Can someone explain how Chang can get jail time for something that the Torch says NEVER happpened? Is there a distinction between illegal campaign contributions and GIFTS? Aren't they one in the same? Doesn't make sense to me, but then the NJ Senator is after all a gimmiecrap so it just stands to reason he will skate.
In a legal sense, the two things can be completely disconnected because the legal proceedings are separate. A person can be convicted of being part of a conspiracy to commit fraud even if his "co-conspirators" are cleared of all charges. It sounds odd, but that's how it works.
If I understand the facts of this case correctly, Chang was not found guilty of committing these crimes -- he pleaded guilty.