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Ex-Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane Arrives At Montgomery County Correctional Facility To Begin Perjury Sentence

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is behind bars after reporting to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility Thursday morning to begin a sentence for leaking grand jury material and lying about it.

Kathleen Kane Reports To Prison To Begin Sentence
Credit: Montgomery County Correctional Facility

Kane arrived in a black pickup truck, shortly before 8 a.m. on Thursday, to begin a 10- to 23-month term for perjury, obstruction and other counts.

kathleen kane reports to montco jail
Credit: CBS3

The 52-year-old Democrat from Scranton had once been considered a rising political star in the state but resigned after her 2016 conviction.

On Wednesday, a judge denied Kane's motion to delay her jail sentence. Kane wanted more time before reporting to jail so she can make arrangements for her teenage sons.

Lawyer William Brennan says the divorced Kane has primary custody of her 16- and 17-year-old sons. A motion filed Wednesday asked for "a brief extension" for Kane to start serving the 10- to 23-month sentence.

"Defendant requests a brief extension of the surrender date to allow her to solidify custodial arrangements for her sons with her ex-husband and/or family," the motion reads, adding that Kane's ex-husband "supports this request."

The judge, however, denied the request.

Kane had been out on $75,000 bail since being convicted of leaking grand jury information and lying about it.

Sources tell CBS3 that Kane "never thought she'd have to report to prison," and because of that, her affairs were "not in order."

Kane was serving as the first woman and first Democrat to be elected attorney general in Pennsylvania history when she was convicted in 2016 of leaking grand jury material and lying about it. She resigned after being convicted.

She has remained free since then on $75,000 bail, pending appeals, but on Monday the state Supreme Court declined to take up her case. On Tuesday, Montgomery County Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy granted prosecutors' request to revoke her bail.

In her Tuesday order, Demchick-Alloy said there was no longer any reason for Kane to remain free. Brennan had asked that that order be put on hold while the judge considered whether to grant Kane more time.

Legal experts balked at Kane's final Hail Mary of a move to remain free given the significant detail she was convicted more than two years ago. Brennan says it wasn't an attempt at a delay for "no good reason."

"It's easy to say she knew it was coming, she had two years to put it together, and she really didn't know when it was coming. They don't give you a date and a time when they give you a decision. The decision came unexpectedly regarding when it would come, and frankly, she thought she was going to be successful on appeal. So to ask for a week to situate two teenage boys on purely fairness issues, not legal wrangling, doesn't seem unreasonable to me," said Brennan.

A spokeswoman for the Montgomery County district attorney's office declined comment.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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