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Feb 11 2008 5:51PM EST

Meet the New Lerach, Almost as Good as the Lerach You'll See Two Years from Now

Just two short months ago, Jack Flack accused Bill Lerach of channeling Gene Talmadge in a demagogic op-ed in the Washington Post.

But what a difference a two-year sentence in federal prison can make, as we see a much humbler Lerach in Jacob Adelman's AP report on today's sentencing.

"I pleaded guilty in this case because I was guilty," Lerach said before sentencing. "It was, as they say, felony stupid."

The quote seems to reflect an overall shift in spin strategy. Lerach previously pushed the standing-up-to-the-big-corporate-bullies agenda, a spin too far for a newly convicted felon. But now, he seems to focus more on telling the story of the fallible human being with a tough past.

Be sure to check out Lerach "sentencing memorandum," particularly the personal background that begins on page 24. Entitled "The Extraordinary Life of William Lerach," the Dickensian tale of the wayward lawyer somehow failed to melt the heart of U.S. District Judge John Walter, who came down much heavier than the six months targeted by Lerach's lawyers.

Jack Flack assumes that two years will be plenty of time for Lerach to craft the appropriate post-imprisonment spin strategy. That strategy will surely include a nice, secular Road to Damascus experience in prison, and an autobiography that hopefully will read much more like a torrid Lerach jury speech than like the maudlin sentencing memo.

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