I have down some searching to see if I could find examples of such charges. And mostly what I have found is that members of the two major political parties raise charges that the other party is routinely violating the federal records act, open meeting acts, freedom of information, etc.  The parties that control the executive branch of the federal, state, and municipal government may change but the charges are pretty similar. We have the oddity of members of congress standing in the hallway or the restroom to make calls on their cell phones because the use of their offices for political work is prohibited by law. Could it be that the laws do not reflect the reality of political life. But that is an argument for another day.

I did find one case - one can argue that this is a political prosecution but perhaps all potential prosecutions under the federal records act are political because people are so rarely charged with violations despite the common knowledge that the act is frequently violated.  The case deals with Scott Bloch who according to Wikipedia "was appointed by President George W. Bush<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush> to be deputy director to the Department of Justice's<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice> Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives, as well as Special Counsel at the United States Office of Special Counsel<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Office_of_Special_Counsel>. He is notable for ordering "seven level swipe" of all computers thus removing all emails and then lying to congress about it."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Bloch
One might think that this was a perfect example of intentional destruction of records prohibited by the Federal Records Act - but he wasn't charged with that.  Eventually he agreed to plead guilty to the intentional destruction of government property.  You can read a bit more about it on the legal blog below.
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2013/04/former-bush-administration-lawyer-asks-judge-for-probation.html

Interestingly the Justice Department (under the Obama administration) recommended leniency in their sentencing recommendation dated April 29, 2013. They urged the court to use the lowest possible sentence consistent with judicial guidelines.  You can read the Justice Department memo on the link below.
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/bloch-memo.pdf

In the end Mr. Bloch was sentenced to 2 years probation which was double the length sought by both Mr. Bloch's attorneys and the Justice Department. He also had to pay a fine, 200 hours of community service, and spend one day in jail.  So yes we do have an example of someone who apparently went to jail for violating the federal records act though some may see him more a victim of a political witch hunt. And of course he wasn't found guilty of destroying records only destroying government property.  You can read a bit more about this in the Washington Post article referenced below
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/former-federal-official-sentenced-to-probation-and-a-day-in-jail/2013/06/24/435d0de8-dd02-11e2-9218-bc2ac7cd44e2_story.html


David Gaynon
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Huntington Beach CA 92647/USA

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