City Reelects Mayor After He Spent 7-Years in Jail

thefreethoughtproject.com Bridgeport, CT — At 43-years-old, Joseph P. Ganim had been the mayor of Connecticut’s largest city for 12 years before stepping down to be arrested and convicted on multiple corruption charges. On March 19, 2003, a federal court convicted Ganim of 16 counts of criminal misconduct, including racketeering, extortion, bribery, tax evasion and mail fraud. Federal Judge, Janet Bond Arterton sentenced the former mayor to nine years in prison for “systematically using his office to enrich himself.” Since his sentence was under ten years, Ganim, who undoubtedly would have been torn to shreds in a real prison, was able to serve out his ‘punishment’ in a federal camp, where conditions are far less restrictive than an actual prison. After serving only seven of the nine years of his sentence, Ganim was signed out of the Watkinson Halfway House in Hartford for the final time on July 19, 2010. For the next several years, this political criminal would strive to regain his law license and even have local attorneys recommend him to be readmitted to the bar. However, for the time being, his license was not reinstated and clearer heads prevailed. Until now. On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, after being reelected in a landslide vote, Joe Ganim was sworn into the office of the mayor – for the second time.