Ernie Preate ran for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1994, but came in second for the Republican nomination behind then-congressman Tom Ridge, who won the general election.
21 Facts About Ernie Preate
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In 1995, Ernie Preate went to jail after pleading guilty to mail fraud charges.
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Ernie Preate served in the United States Marine Corps from 1966 to 1969 as Infantry Platoon Commander.
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Ernie Preate spent 13 months in combat in Vietnam and was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain.
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Ernie Preate was elected Lackawanna County District Attorney in 1977 and served until 1989.
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Ernie Preate was an active trial prosecutor, specializing in homicide and drug cases.
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Ernie Preate was a member of the National Association of Attorneys General where his colleagues elected him Chairman of the Criminal Law Committee.
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Ernie Preate was the Association's official delegate to the American Bar Association, where he was co-founder and first chair of the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association and received numerous awards for his service to law enforcement and the justice system.
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Ernie Preate was elected Attorney General of Pennsylvania in 1988, taking office in 1989.
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Ernie Preate was re-elected in 1992, but resigned that position in 1995 after being charged with federal racketeering and corruption.
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Ernie Preate pleaded guilty to mail fraud involving a $20,000.00 campaign contribution and served a year in Federal prison.
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Ernie Preate was succeeded as Attorney General by Tom Corbett, who later went on to become Governor of Pennsylvania.
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Ernie Preate has been retained as a lobbyist by numerous prison and Criminal Justice Reform groups.
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Ernie Preate has served as a consultant to Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship in Reston, Virginia, which advocates rehabilitative and faith-based reform of the criminal justice system and has become outspoken about the shortcomings of the US criminal justice system, urging reforms to enable the public to have greater confidence that justice was done in judicial proceedings.
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Ernie Preate now believes that there ought to be a moratorium on the carrying out of the death penalty under the very statute he successfully defended in the US Supreme Court.
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Ernie Preate now believes that as it has been applied, it falls unevenly and unfairly on people of color, and that the criminal justice system often inadequately provides effective assistance of counsel to those accused.
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Ernie Preate calls for Pennsylvania to do a first in a generation study of the prisoner population to see if there are better ways that the 7,500 mentally ill and intellectually disabled prisoners can be compassionately dealt with, that the 7,000 Hepatitis C prisoners can be effectively treated, that the thousands of sick, disabled, or dying geriatric prisoners can be humanely managed, and, that Pennsylvania's often arbitrary and rehabilitative stifling parole system be revamped.
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Ernie Preate is a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature's Joint State Government Commission's Advisory Committee studying the reasons for the wrongful incarceration of so many innocent prisoners.
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Ernie Preate is Solicitor for the Borough of Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania.
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Ernie Preate is the father of twin daughters, Elizabeth and Alexandra, and, a third daughter, Dominique.
21.
In 2022, daughter Liz Ernie Preate Havey was Chairwoman of Montgomery County, PA.