http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/nyregion/11rowland.html
Rowland Is Released From Prison
By WILLIAM YARDLEY and STACEY STOWE Published: February 11, 2006
LORETTO, Pa., Feb. 10 His teenage son has joined the Marines. His oldest daughter is about to graduate from his alma mater. His wife sells antiques on consignment.
His former No. 2 at work, M. Jodi Rell, is now a formidable No. 1, a governor whose job approval ratings are roughly as high as his were low by the time it all came tumbling down. And not everyone is happy he is coming home.
Those are just a few of the realities facing the former governor of Connecticut, John G. Rowland, with his discharge from federal prison here early Friday, two days before his scheduled release date. He served more than 10 months on a corruption conviction for accepting $107,000 in gifts and vacations from people doing business with the state.
Self-assured and rarely contrite even in the dark final days before he resigned in July 2004, Mr. Rowland said in a statement on Friday that he had been both humbled and renewed while in prison and had come to understand "true grace."
He said he had "no particular plans at this time" and hoped to rebuild his family and friendships even as his financial situation and employment prospects are uncertain. "Actions always speak louder than words," he said, "and I am going to try to be a better person, and show my family, friends and the people of Connecticut how truly sorry I am for letting them down."
Under the terms of his sentence, Mr. Rowland, 48, must report to probation officers in Connecticut within 72 hours of his release to begin three years of supervised release, with the first four months under home confinement.
Mr. Rowland suggested that he would not rush home, where reporters and television trucks lined the street in front of the rented three-bedroom ranch house in West Hartford that his wife and some of their five children have lived in since he resigned.
"Over the next few days I will be spending some quiet time with my incredibly supportive wife, Patty," he said in the statement he wrote with the help of a longtime friend, B. Jay Cooper, a public relations executive in Washington. "We will be home in a few days and ask that the media give us space and time to reconnect fully as a family as we plan the next phase of our lives."
Because Mr. Rowland's official release date, Feb. 12, fell on a weekend, the prison warden had the discretion to release him on Friday. He left the minimum-security camp at the Loretto Federal Correctional Institution in southwestern Pennsylvania about 5:20 a.m.
Mr. Rowland, a Republican elected to three terms, towered over state politics with uncommon flair only to become the state's first governor to resign in scandal, quitting in July 2004 and pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge that December. Some people in the Democratic-leaning town to which he is returning said on Friday that he has not been punished enough.
Daryl Googel, a teacher from Newington who had just finished shopping at the Crown Supermarket, said, "He probably should have stayed in there longer. He was dishonest, and if it were anybody else, they would still be in there." But Stu Mitchell, 34, a producer at ESPN, expressed only apathy. "Him being released makes no difference to anyone," he said, "except maybe for his neighbors."
Joseph A. Mengacci, a friend of the former governor for two decades, said, "There will be people who will distance themselves and people who will embrace him, and it's hard to know who will do what."
Mr. Mengacci, who said he visited Mr. Rowland in prison in December and corresponded with him, rejected the presumption that Mr. Rowland would land comfortably and find work easily through friends. He noted that Mr. Rowland has no law or business degree and that he has spent nearly all his professional life in politics.
"It's not like he's Martha Stewart, who came back to a business," Mr. Mengacci said. "I don't know what the market is for John Rowland."
Mr. Cooper, the public relations executive, said the former governor was well aware that whatever ambitions he might have would likely meet resistance. "I'd say all options are open in his mind and then there's the reality those have to filter through," said Mr. Cooper, who grew up with Mr. Rowland in Waterbury.
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By WILLIAM YARDLEY and STACEY STOWE Published: February 11, 2006 LORETTO, Pa., Feb. 10 His teenage son has joined the Marines. His oldest daughter is about to graduate from his alma mater. His wife sells antiques on consignment.
His former No. 2 at work, M. Jodi Rell, is now a formidable No. 1, a governor whose job approval ratings are roughly as high as his were low by the time it all came tumbling down. And not everyone is happy he is coming home.
Those are just a few of the realities facing the former governor of Connecticut, John G. Rowland, with his discharge from federal prison here early Friday, two days before his scheduled release date. He served more than 10 months on a corruption conviction for accepting $107,000 in gifts and vacations from people doing business with the state.
Self-assured and rarely contrite even in the dark final days before he resigned in July 2004, Mr. Rowland said in a statement on Friday that he had been both humbled and renewed while in prison and had come to understand "true grace."
He said he had "no particular plans at this time" and hoped to rebuild his family and friendships even as his financial situation and employment prospects are uncertain. "Actions always speak louder than words," he said, "and I am going to try to be a better person, and show my family, friends and the people of Connecticut how truly sorry I am for letting them down."
Under the terms of his sentence, Mr. Rowland, 48, must report to probation officers in Connecticut within 72 hours of his release to begin three years of supervised release, with the first four months under home confinement.
Mr. Rowland suggested that he would not rush home, where reporters and television trucks lined the street in front of the rented three-bedroom ranch house in West Hartford that his wife and some of their five children have lived in since he resigned.
"Over the next few days I will be spending some quiet time with my incredibly supportive wife, Patty," he said in the statement he wrote with the help of a longtime friend, B. Jay Cooper, a public relations executive in Washington. "We will be home in a few days and ask that the media give us space and time to reconnect fully as a family as we plan the next phase of our lives."
Because Mr. Rowland's official release date, Feb. 12, fell on a weekend, the prison warden had the discretion to release him on Friday. He left the minimum-security camp at the Loretto Federal Correctional Institution in southwestern Pennsylvania about 5:20 a.m.
Mr. Rowland, a Republican elected to three terms, towered over state politics with uncommon flair only to become the state's first governor to resign in scandal, quitting in July 2004 and pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge that December. Some people in the Democratic-leaning town to which he is returning said on Friday that he has not been punished enough.
Daryl Googel, a teacher from Newington who had just finished shopping at the Crown Supermarket, said, "He probably should have stayed in there longer. He was dishonest, and if it were anybody else, they would still be in there." But Stu Mitchell, 34, a producer at ESPN, expressed only apathy. "Him being released makes no difference to anyone," he said, "except maybe for his neighbors."
Joseph A. Mengacci, a friend of the former governor for two decades, said, "There will be people who will distance themselves and people who will embrace him, and it's hard to know who will do what."
Mr. Mengacci, who said he visited Mr. Rowland in prison in December and corresponded with him, rejected the presumption that Mr. Rowland would land comfortably and find work easily through friends. He noted that Mr. Rowland has no law or business degree and that he has spent nearly all his professional life in politics.
"It's not like he's Martha Stewart, who came back to a business," Mr. Mengacci said. "I don't know what the market is for John Rowland."
Mr. Cooper, the public relations executive, said the former governor was well aware that whatever ambitions he might have would likely meet resistance. "I'd say all options are open in his mind and then there's the reality those have to filter through," said Mr. Cooper, who grew up with Mr. Rowland in Waterbury.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5609096,00.html
Rowland, Out of Prison, Vows to Improve
Friday February 10, 2006 9:31 PM
AP Photo NY110
By SUSAN HAIGH
Associated Press Writer
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Former Gov. John G. Rowland walked out of federal prison Friday after serving 10 months for corruption, promising to ``try to be a better person.''
Rowland, 48, was released from a prison in Pennsylvania before dawn. He will be fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet and spend four months under house arrest. He must also perform 300 hours of community service.
He offered no hint about his long-term plans.
``Actions speak louder than words, and I am going to try to be a better person and show my family and friends and the people of Connecticut how truly sorry I am for letting them down,'' he said in a statement issued through a friend.
The three-term Republican resigned in 2004 amid an impeachment inquiry and pleaded guilty to conspiracy, admitting he accepted more than $100,000 in vacations and chartered trips to Las Vegas from a state contractor and a jet company that received a tax break.
As inmate No. 15623-014, Rowland wore a khaki uniform and was responsible for sweeping a prison stairwell. Fellow inmates nicknamed him ``Guv'' and gave him a special chair at mail call, friends said.
Rowland said he found ``true grace'' in the minimum-security prison.
Brad Davis, a Hartford radio talk show host and a close Rowland friend, said Rowland started a job training program in prison to teach the inmates interview skills, and another program to help inmates with drug and alcohol problems.
As for Rowland's future, Davis said the former governor mentioned the possibility of motivational speaking.