I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison today and fined $250,000 for lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted of two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements to FBI agents, and one count of obstructing justice three months ago.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said he did not believe Libby would prevail on appeal and is unlikely to let him remain free while one is filed, but scheduled a hearing for next week to hear exactly such a motion. Assuming the judge denies the motion, Libby would report to federal prison authorities in approximately 45 to 60 days. The Post says that Walton chose a relatively harsh interpretation of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines urged on him by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, which could lead to an appeal of the sentence.

Cheney released a statement in which he still denied any wrongdoing by Libby, saying he is “deeply saddened” by the conviction and hopes that his appeal will “return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man.” A White House spokeswoman said President Bush “felt terrible” for Libby and his family, but there is no word yet on whether the jail sentence might push the president to pardon Libby. We suspect we haven’t heard anywhere close to the last word on this scandal, which has captivated Washington for almost four years now, yet.

Illustration by swaters.