Smith: I squandered what I loved the most

In a note of contrition before he was sentenced to one year and one day in prison Tuesday, former Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St Louis, said his desire to do anything he could to win his Congressional race against Russ Carnahan, brought about his downfall.

"I was raised better than that, but I thought the ends justified the means," Smith said. "I squandered my reputation and my political career. I squandered what I loved the most."

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(Randy Turner's new book, Newspaper Days, is available at Amazon.com