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In June 2012, when the Ottawa Citizen and Postmedia News reported Elections Canada was investigating Dean Del Mastro for violating the Elections Act, Prime Minister Stephen Harper rejected opposition demands that Del Mastro step aside as his parliamentary secretary, and spoke up for him in the House.

But Del Mastro was guilty. On Thursday, he will learn his sentence. Prosecutors want him to do nine to 12 months in jail.

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While under investigation, Del Mastro remained Harper’s man on the Commons ethics committee. He helped write the law that will govern the next election. And he used his position in the PMO to repeatedly attack both Elections Canada and Frank Hall, the witness whose evidence led to his conviction.

Hall plans to be in the Peterborough, Ont., courthouse Thursday, hoping for a conclusion of a process that was “at times indescribably difficult.”

Hall has been helping Elections Canada with this case since 2011, when he sent a letter to the agency notifying them that Del Mastro’s 2008 campaign return did not include about $20,000 worth of electoral calls he did for him.