Opinion ID: 2274000
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: contrition, remorse, and rehabilitation.

Text: The Committee found that Burns did not show sufficient appreciation of the wrongfulness of criminal misconduct, contrition for such misconduct, present rehabilitation, or candor with the Committee. To the contrary, the Committee found that Burns attempted to minimize his crimes or shift the blame to others. Specifically, it found that: In testimony before the Committee, Mr. Burns tried to minimize his wrongful actions. Rather than admit responsibility for his wrongful conduct in the mail fraud, he testified that government agents targeted him after he successfully defended a criminal case in West Virginia. He tried to minimize it further by saying he was not supposed to receive any of the money and that his only wrongdoing was planning to file the lawsuit. The indictment and guilty plea transcript show otherwise. As previously stated, Mr. Burns has not been candid in his dealings with the Committee. Regrettably, Mr. Burns still has not shown the Committee persuasive proof of rehabilitation in the area of alcohol abuse, anger management[,] and his tendency to be untruthful when it serves his purposes. The evidence before the Committee is replete with examples of his untruthfulness.