My blood boils! In part, because there is nothing I can do. But
Barak Obama could. He has the power to set John's sentence aside,
give him back his first class rights. Obama could, if he had any back
bone.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/9/15, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Sentence They Don't Tell You About
Sunday, 09 August 2015 00:00 By John Kiriakou, OtherWords | Op-Ed
Eight years ago I blew the whistle on the CIA's torture program. I knew
there'd be trouble, but I never could've predicted the years-long ordeal
that followed.
My revelations led to a four-year-long FBI investigation and five felony
charges - against me, not the torturers. Facing a lifetime in prison, I
pled
guilty to a lesser charge of confirming the name of a former CIA colleague
to a reporter who never published it.
That may sound familiar to you. It's exactly what former CIA director David
Petraeus did when he exposed the names of multiple undercover officers to
his girlfriend. Petraeus took a plea to a misdemeanor. I didn't have four
stars on my shoulder, and I wasn't a friend of the president's, so I'd
gotten stuck with a felony.
At sentencing, my judge gave me 30 months in prison and three years of
probation, and she took away my federal pension. I left for prison
believing
that was the totality of my punishment. I was wrong.
One of the first things that happened upon my conviction was that the
company with which I had my homeowner's and auto insurance canceled my
policies. They don't do business with felons, they said. That same week, my
credit card company canceled my card and demanded the immediate payment of
the balance.
Then, shortly before my departure for prison, the agency that my wife and I
used to hire child care providers also jumped on the bandwagon. They
dropped
us as clients and left us without anybody to help her care for our three
young children while I was away.
When I finally came home from prison six months ago, I thought probation
was
all I had left to deal with. Yet even now, I'm still putting up with petty
government harassment, even if the private sector has backed off.
I recently traveled to Greece to help the government there craft
whistleblower and anti-corruption legislation. As a Greek-American and a
whistleblower, I wanted to help my ancestral homeland climb out of its
current political and economic troubles and get back on track.
I had great success in Greece, securing support for the legislation from
the
government and all major political parties. I'll return to Greece in a few
months to begin drafting the new law.
I landed back in Northern Virginia excited about my success and prospects
in
Greece. Imagine my surprise, then, when an immigration officer at Dulles
International Airport stopped me and asked to see my passport.
"Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" he asked. "You know I have," I
told him. "It's on your computer." He then handed me my passport, but only
after writing a large letter "C" on my customs form.
I walked to the customs line, but was then redirected to the customs
office.
I waited in a very long line only to be told to have a seat.
"Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" they asked again. "Yes," I
replied. "What does that have to do with being let back into my own
country?"
The customs officer then called my probation officer to ask if I'd been
allowed to leave the country. She said I had, so the customs agent finally
let me go. The whole ordeal took an hour. After 12 hours in transit, it
felt
like a whole day.
I guess I'll have to tolerate this nonsense every time I travel
internationally. It's another unseen addition to my sentence.
Something tells me that General Petraeus doesn't have to put up with these
hassles.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not
be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
JOHN KIRIAKOU
John Kiriakou is an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.
He's a former CIA officer who blew the whistle on the agency's use of
torture.
________________________________________
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Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
The Sentence They Don't Tell You About
Sunday, 09 August 2015 00:00 By John Kiriakou, OtherWords | Op-Ed
. font size Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink
reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink
reference not valid.
. Eight years ago I blew the whistle on the CIA's torture program. I
knew there'd be trouble, but I never could've predicted the years-long
ordeal that followed.
. My revelations led to a four-year-long FBI investigation and five
felony charges - against me, not the torturers. Facing a lifetime in
prison,
I pled guilty to a lesser charge of confirming the name of a former CIA
colleague to a reporter who never published it.
That may sound familiar to you. It's exactly what former CIA director David
Petraeus did when he exposed the names of multiple undercover officers to
his girlfriend. Petraeus took a plea to a misdemeanor. I didn't have four
stars on my shoulder, and I wasn't a friend of the president's, so I'd
gotten stuck with a felony.
At sentencing, my judge gave me 30 months in prison and three years of
probation, and she took away my federal pension. I left for prison
believing
that was the totality of my punishment. I was wrong.
One of the first things that happened upon my conviction was that the
company with which I had my homeowner's and auto insurance canceled my
policies. They don't do business with felons, they said. That same week, my
credit card company canceled my card and demanded the immediate payment of
the balance.
Then, shortly before my departure for prison, the agency that my wife and I
used to hire child care providers also jumped on the bandwagon. They
dropped
us as clients and left us without anybody to help her care for our three
young children while I was away.
When I finally came home from prison six months ago, I thought probation
was
all I had left to deal with. Yet even now, I'm still putting up with petty
government harassment, even if the private sector has backed off.
I recently traveled to Greece to help the government there craft
whistleblower and anti-corruption legislation. As a Greek-American and a
whistleblower, I wanted to help my ancestral homeland climb out of its
current political and economic troubles and get back on track.
I had great success in Greece, securing support for the legislation from
the
government and all major political parties. I'll return to Greece in a few
months to begin drafting the new law.
I landed back in Northern Virginia excited about my success and prospects
in
Greece. Imagine my surprise, then, when an immigration officer at Dulles
International Airport stopped me and asked to see my passport.
"Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" he asked. "You know I have," I
told him. "It's on your computer." He then handed me my passport, but only
after writing a large letter "C" on my customs form.
I walked to the customs line, but was then redirected to the customs
office.
I waited in a very long line only to be told to have a seat.
"Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" they asked again. "Yes," I
replied. "What does that have to do with being let back into my own
country?"
The customs officer then called my probation officer to ask if I'd been
allowed to leave the country. She said I had, so the customs agent finally
let me go. The whole ordeal took an hour. After 12 hours in transit, it
felt
like a whole day.
I guess I'll have to tolerate this nonsense every time I travel
internationally. It's another unseen addition to my sentence.
Something tells me that General Petraeus doesn't have to put up with these
hassles.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not
be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
John Kiriakou
John Kiriakou is an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.
He's a former CIA officer who blew the whistle on the agency's use of
torture.
Show Comments
