GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.
From the Des Moines Register:
The lawyer for a woman at the center of a $1.8 million federal fraud case insisted Thursday that a 27-count indictment against her is much ado about nothing.
William Kutmus contended that his client, former CIETC Chief Executive Ramona Cunningham, was being picked on because she earned a six-figure salary with only a General Educational Development diploma.
Cunningham, 52, pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday to charges that involve various forms of theft and embezzlement from government agencies. Prosecutors allege that she and two co-workers pocketed roughly $1.8 million in unwarranted compensation from the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium in less than three years.
"The criticism is that she is female and she has a GED," Kutmus said. He called such criticism unfair because "the richest man in the world is Mr. Bob Gates."
Bill Gates, a Harvard University dropout when he formed Microsoft Corp., was estimated last year to have a net worth of more than $50 billion.
Cunningham's paycheck, like Gates', was the product of her ability, Kutmus argued after Thursday's arraignment.
Wow, Kutmus is getting so old that he doesn't know the difference between Bill Gates and the current Secretary of Defense. Although I'm sure if you give the old shyster enough time he'd probably spin some tale about how Ramona Cunningham performed her job better than the Secretary Of Defense. Just what we don't need...
Actually, Bill Gates's salary, before any bonuses or stock options, is less than Iowa Hawkeye football coach Kirk Ferentz's. Ferentz earned a base salary of $1,300,000 in 2006. Total compensation has been estimated at about $4.4 million.
Bill Gates drew a salary of $616,667 in 2006. That's not much more than Ramona Cunningham's $360,000. And CIETC doesn't have 60,000 employees and $40 billion in sales.
Sure, Bill Gates gets lots of stock options, but his company has to perform. And Gates is giving away practically all of his fortune to the poor.
CIETC didn't have to perform, other than lobbying Feds for more deficit-financed pork and giving each other bonuses.
Yeah, that's the height of hubris on the part of Kutmus and Cunningham for a defense, but Kutmus does get results. If you can afford Kutmus, he's probably the way to go.
Kutmus defended Phyllis Nelson a few years ago after she murdered her doctor husband by stabbing him in the chest during a divorce. He got her out in 3 1/2 years, just proving that if you're rich and can afford a good attorney then you get a real sweetheart deal. If you're poor and a physically abused wife who has killed in order to save your life and also your unborn child, well, you're fucked.
Anyway, I can't wait to read the comments on the Register's story as the day progresses. It'll be fun reading all that.
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