Feb 21, 2017 · President Nixon’s Former Attorney General “John Mitchell” Is Sentenced (1975) Jeanette Lamb - February 21, 2017. On this day in 1975, John Mitchell, the former Attorney General for President Nixon, was sentenced to prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Mitchell was found guilty on several counts, including conspiracy, obstruction of …
John Mitchell, in full John Newton Mitchell, (born Sept. 15, 1913, Detroit, Mich., U.S.—died Nov. 9, 1988, Washington, D.C.), U.S. attorney general during the Nixon administration who served 19 months in prison (1977–79) for his participation in the Watergate Scandal.
Mitchell quickly became a close political adviser to Nixon, and in 1968 he managed Nixon’s successful campaign for the presidency. Appointed attorney general, Mitchell took office in January 1969 and remained there until March 1972, when he resigned to head Nixon’s reelection committee.
After his conviction of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury, Mitchell was sentenced to a prison term of two to eight years by Judge John Sirica.
Mitchell, who once said all he ever wanted out of life was to be a 'fat and prosperous Wall Street lawyer,' became the first attorney general ever to serve a prison sentence -- for Watergate crimes he said he never committed. Advertisement.
He was released 19 months later, Jan. 19, 1979. Mitchell was involved in other legal battles. In 1973, he and former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans were indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of perjury and conspiracy to obstruct justice.