ABSTRACT
October 1, 1974: The Watergate cover-up trial opened in Washington, D.C. Former Attorney General John Mitchell and four other Nixon administration officials went on trial on cover-up charges. On February 21, 1975, Mitchell was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury and was sentenced to 2½ to 8 years in prison for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up. The sentence was later reduced to 1 to 4 years by U.S. district court judge John J. Sirica. Mitchell served only 19 months of his sentence, at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, a minimum-security prison, before being released on parole for medical reasons. Tape recordings made by President Nixon and the testimony of others involved confirmed that Mitchell had participated in meetings to plan the break-in of the Democratic Party’s National Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. In addition, he met, on at least three occasions, with the president in an effort to cover up White House involvement after the burglars were discovered and arrested. Mitchell died on November 9, 1988, of a heart attack.
