US Attorney Ortiz's actions in repeatedly getting Dimasi transferred around the country for months to get him to testify in a case he knew nothing about is just another outrageous injustice in this system. Denying DiMasi medical treatment for so many months after a doctor had diagnosed cancer effectively turned an 8 yr court sentence into a life threatening death sentence.  SHAME ON ALL OF THEM... DiMasi should be released now. The system has surely gotten their pound of flesh from him and he has suffered far more than enough. He is no threat to anyone. What are they waiting for? Where is the justice? 

This whole thing is about the discrimination of italian-americans. if Sal was irish he never would have been treated this way.

time to release him he is not a threat to anyone....for crying out loud the child molesters in this state get better treatment or wife murderers seeking gender change.

You reap what you sow...

If sal didn't want to get shelped around from prison to prison he shouldn't have committed the felony....

In his mind he was just being a "mass democrat"....but to everyone else, he's a common thief.

Don't do the crime if you don't want time. It is that simple. Furthermore, it costs the tax payer lots of money to support the prison system, to expect top notch health care is not realistic. The solution, don't do anything illegal.

Wow, such a lack of compassion for this man.  It is stunning to see how vindictive Mr. DiMasi's enemies can be. He SHOULD be released NOW in the name of justice and common (not so common anymore) humanity. He is broken, very ill, not a threat.  In the novel Les Miserables, Hugo draws the distinction between the LAW and JUSTICE. Perhaps more of us should ponder that distinction.

If this is how formerly powerful politicians get treated in prison, what's happening to the garden-variety check kiter? I think DiMasi was guilty, but he didn't deserve to be on death row where it sounds like he is. It's an outrage that anyone is being treated this way, it's not how a civil society should treat those who have been convicted.

I feel bad for Debbie. She sounds like she might need some comforting...

Sorry but I can't feel that sorry for Sal. There's consequences for violating the public trust. Most people avoid illegal activities because they don't want to wind up in prison. You know that life in prison will be hard and that you won't have access to things a free person has. That fear helps motivate law abiding citizens to behave that way. If you remove that fear more people will take the risk and we'll be dealing with more criminal activity. It's a callous way to look at it but it's human nature.

Sal knew the risk but thought he was safe due to his powerful position. Had he not done what he did he would have continued to have access to health care that may have changed his current state. People take white collar crime too lightly. We throw a poor kid into prison for selling weed and not one financial executive has done a days time after they almost brought down our financial system. Which act is more destructive to society? These guys will continue to take risks, and put us at risk, because of the fact that no one was put away. 

Trying to be postive and not wish bad things on all of those who over reached to get another politicians scalp for the sake of a prize or a promotion. Instead I will send love and prayers to an honest kind and principled public servant Sal DiMasi and his lovely wife. 

I've lived with, through and am now cured of this cancer. If Mr. DiMasi's diagnosis had come early enough he would be cured as well or at least not at this advanced stage of diagnosis. Tongue cancer is highly curable if caught early enough. The radiation treatment is horrific (face mask bolted to a table, mouth sores that make eating anything more than lukewarm broth excruciating, painful swallowing and speaking and diminished or destroyed salivary glands) but it is worth the horror to be cured. Mr. DiMasi has gotten the equivalent of white-collar waterboarding by our justice system. All connected to his punishment should be held accountable if not by law at least by their own consciences. He should be released immediately and get the care that he needs in Boston at MGH or one of our other fine hospitals which specialize in this treatment. To Mr. DiMasi and his family, my sincerest sympathies for this outrage.

What exactly is prison for?  I thought it was meant to allow individuals convicted of crimes to, essentially, pay a form of restitution to the community and to protect us from those too dangerous to be allowed to roam free.  DiMasi has lost everything, including his health.  But, forfeiting his health is not enough for some people or the system -- which always wants to exact a full measure of "justice."  Let him out.  Let him live with some dignity in his own home for the short time he apparently has left.  Letting him out isn't weak and it certainly doesn't send the wrong message to others tempted to engage in some unethical nonsense.  After all, no one will think Sal got off too easy. 

HHKitchener---I hope life treats you exactly as you wish life to treat others---with no comapssion at all.

We, the USA, are broken beyond repair - God help us, our children and their children!! 

Non-violent crimes such as Sal’s have to be punished, yes, but imprisonment is not the answer. The punishment should be simply the requirement to pay back the illegally acquired money with heavy interest and fines and some years of probation. This should be deterrence enough. And if a person’s in prison, how can he/she earn or borrow the money to pay it back with interest  and fines? And while in prison, the taxpayers have to pay for the convicts’ board and room.

The story of his mistreatment is one of incredible callousness and cruelty. The inhumanity of officials in this matter should be investigated and heads should roll. 

You hear the same stories over and over: people who don't pay attention to what goes on in the corrections system and the "justice" system until the screw is turned on them, painfully and with inexcusable cruel and unusual abuse.  Americans are amazingly stupid about what goes on because they believe the idealogues who talk about punishment but nothing about how it is meted out.

Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone. Sal DiMasi made errors in judgement and action for which he and his family have paid and are paying dearly. There is a point when the hounds of hell have to be called off. I am still stunned that he basically threw away everything he had worked for in his political life for a few worthless dollars. Compassion for the sick and dying is always in order and as such now, for him