Final Over-Under on Rothstein Sentence: 40 Years
![levin_rothstein[1].jpg](http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/levin_rothstein%5B1%5D.jpg) |
| Rothstein with the whale. |
I was going to go with a Solomonesque 35, but I have a feeling the judge will follow the government's lead on this and totally ignore the pleas from Rothstein and Nurik. We'll see.
After the jump, I ask the question: Why do schmuck lobbyists love to pose with wine?
And there are pictures!
Here's the truth about lobbyists -- a lot of them really do think they are special. Some of them sort of are. Ron Book, say what you will, is a hard worker, damned smart, and always on-point. Born to hustle. But some just kind of play the schmoozing game really well to get the weak and needy politicians to eat from their hands. I guess they rely on fine wine to help them along in that endeavor. That might explain this photograph:
![friedmanbernie[1].jpg](http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/friedmanbernie%5B1%5D.jpg) |
That's lobbyist Bernie Friedman, of Becker & Poliakoff, a fellow who has tentacles deep into the Broward County Commission and who once virtually ruled over Hollywood with his partner Alan Koslow. Friedman fancies himself an intellectual, a man above the fray. Can't you tell by that look on his face? You ought to see him when he plays the professor in his blazer and scarf. It's even more cringe-inducing than the above.
Which brings us to Russell "Mr. Stacy Ritter" Klenet, who was a right-hand man to Ponzi man Joel Steinger and "serves" as the paid lobbyist for the City of Sunrise.
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Just imagine you're a politician looking into those eyes while drinking a big old glass of pinot. Admit it, you couldn't resist.
Now, who wins in the smugness contest, Klenet or Friedman?
(I gotta go with Friedman.)
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