Richard Olson, the US envoy to Pakistan from 2012 to 2015, on Friday was sentenced to three-year probation and ordered to pay $93,400 for violating so-called “revolving door” laws by lobbying for Qatar within one year of retiring from federal service and lying in ethics paperwork.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the sentencing, the 63-year-old told Judge G Michael Harvey: “I have paid a very heavy price for the mistakes that I made.”<\/p>\n
He further said that he had been “professionally ostracised” and had lost his reputation and income.<\/p>\n
In the Friday hearing the prosecutor accused Olson \u2014 who was embroiled in a number of scandals \u2014 of continuously denying accountability by trying to put his crimes down as “paperwork errors”.<\/p>\n
Among the scandals, Olson was involved in but not tried for, were allegations of multiple extramarital affairs and his decision to withhold four pieces of diamond jewellery worth $60,000 during his stint as the head of the US Consulate in Dubai.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Evan Turgeon argued that “When a defendant continues to deny that his behaviour was wrong, a probationary sentence is not appropriate,” Mr Turgeon said. “If people are allowed to act like the rules don’t apply to them, then they will,” he said.<\/p>\n
While Olson was ultimately able to avoid a prison sentence, his confession of two misdemeanour charges made a six-month jail stint likely at one point.<\/p>\n
He admitted in June of last year to making a false statement and violating laws governing lobbying for a foreign government.<\/p>\n
Olson was accused of helping the government of Qatar influence US policymakers shortly after retiring from the State Department in 2016.<\/p>\n