Politicians who are being sentenced for crimes point to their efforts to push for gun control as reasons that they should have leniency? Seriously?

At her sentencing hearing, when Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane was sentenced Monday to 10 to 23 months in jail for orchestrating an illegal news leak to damage a political enemy, her lawyer argued for leniency because she supported gun control? From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Kane's first year was marked by political and public relations successes. She drew attention for her stands in support of marriage equality and gun control and for crippling Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's move to privatize the lottery - all positions her lawyer cited Monday in arguing for house arrest. . . .

Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos also has been making a similar argument.

As he tries to avoid a prison sentence, convicted former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos is pointing to the SAFE Act as evidence of his political courage. . . . 

Skelos played a key role in the passage of the SAFE Act, which included a broader ban on assault weapons and tougher penalties for illegal gun possession. It also limited the number of bullets in a magazine to seven, but that provision was struck down in court.
Then the Senate majority leader, Skelos allowed the bill to a floor for a vote, where it passed with votes from Democrats and a handful of Republicans on Long Island, including Skelos. 

The SAFE Act is opposed by conservatives and groups representing firearms owners, particularly those upstate, who were frequently critical of Skelos' decision and paint him as a traitor. 

"We want to tell Dean Skelos: Go home," Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, the 2010 GOP candidate for governor, said at a 2013 rally against the SAFE Act. "Get another vocation. Go work at the car wash. Get the hell out of here."