...but the truth is that there should have been so many more. The sentences for first time, non-violent offenders are out of control. Yet, these former Miami prosecutors (Pelletier, Ferrer, and Stefan were all mentioned in this N.Y. Times article) seem to be upset about any commutation, even for Judith Negron who was sentenced to 35 years. 35 years! An absurd and insane sentence.
Not far away, in Hialeah, Fla., Judith Negron, 49, who had been convicted in a separate scheme to siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicare payments, was also at home for the holidays instead of in federal prison. Thanks to a commutation by Mr. Trump, she had been released after serving eight years of a 35-year sentence and was relieved of any remaining obligation to pay her share of $87 million in court-ordered restitution.
This was hardly the outcome that Paul E. Pelletier expected when he and a team of other top Justice Department prosecutors and federal investigators set out to expose what Mr. Esformes and Ms. Negron had done.
***
In explaining his decisions, Mr. Trump said that Ms. Negron was a “wife and mother” and had dedicated her time in prison to “improving her life and the lives of her fellow inmates.” Mr. Esformes, he said, spent his time in prison “devoted to prayer and repentance and is in declining health,” and others had raised claims of misconduct by prosecutors in his case.
The presidential rationales did not hold much weight with those who had sought to hold Mr. Esformes and Ms. Negron accountable.
“It is an incredible kick in the teeth to the agents and prosecutors who toil away every day under very difficult circumstances to achieve justice and some restitution to the taxpayers from the billions of dollars that has literally been stolen from them,” Mr. Pelletier said.
We need criminal justice reform so that these abusive sentences and abusive practices don't need to get to the point of requiring Presidential action.
Ms. Negron, and lawyers for Dr. Melgen and Mr. Esformes, 52, argue that the commutations were justified. They said the Justice Department was overzealous in its prosecutions, either by using unethical practices during the investigation or by pushing for excessively long prison sentences and unrealistic restitution orders.
“I was sentenced based on numbers that were not relevant to me,” Ms. Negron said this month in an interview, referring to her 35-year sentence and multimillion-dollar restitution requirement. She argued that her earnings from the scheme were not more than her salary of about $250,000 a year. Prosecutors said during the trial that much of the stolen money was still missing.
The truth is that there should have been 10x the amount of commutations/pardons. Anyone with the temerity to insist on his Sixth Amendment right to trial is made an example of by the system.
Instead of being upset with the few that were granted, we should all be pushing for more under a Biden presidency.
9 comments:
Pelletier's reputation precedes him. Cancel.
The histrionic responses of these prosecutors reconfirm the many problems with the federal criminal legal system. I think we should start a thread here pointing out all the case prosecuted in this district that ended with outrageously high sentences.
I wonder if when Mr. Ferrer is pitching clients to defend, he tells them that he believes 35 years for a first time white collar fraudster is appropriate?
I can't wait for an enterprising AUSA to throw that in his face at a sentencing as he pleads for mercy for some cooperating snitch in an FCPA case.
I wonder how many people Mr. Stefin has helped who are "languishing" in prison. How many did he put there? Does he have any regrets?
According to his bio Mr. Pelletier represented insurance companies and other corporations how many did he assist in not being prosecuted?
It's outrageous to hear Roger Stefin feign outrage because people are languishing in prison.
There are those in the defense bar in South Florida who regard Stefin and Pelletier as a couple of the worst of the worst, when it comes to a "win at all costs" mentality that embraced the ends justifying the means because, in their minds, they knew what was best and true and right and just. They maximized the bully pulpit afforded by the badge. Innocent people suffered and more often, dupes and mopes were ground up and their lives destroyed. Worse still, they "trained" numerous proteges to embrace their unfortunate, scorched earth approach that they perpetrated unfettered, which necessarily spawned aggressive defense which federal judges now seem so concerned and regard as "uncivil."
Stefin at least had the courage to never pretend to be a "defense" lawyer.
A fulsome article would have included the de minimis evidence I understand existed against Ms. Negron as well as a detailed summary of the Magistrate Judge's order in Esformes, finding prosecutorial misconduct that stunk to high heaven.
Talk about wolves guarding the hen house. DOJ has zero business being involved with pardons. Much like it has perverted the grand jury system from what it was intended to be, DOJ creates artificial barriers to anyone seeking a pardon, constructing arbitrary time period, "rules", and other hoops and roadblocks that soil and stain the President's unfettered power to pardon.
But I am not surprised to hear all the "former" prosecutors whining because they couldn't control or game the system and obstruct lawful pardons. It is cute, really.
The President has the unfettered power to pardon. The President lawfully exercised his power. Its that simple. Stop whining.
Biden need to reform the entire clemency process to take out of the hands of prosecutors.
https://lawreview.uchicago.edu/publication/restructuring-clemency-cost-ignoring-clemency-and-plan-renewal
We process prisoners in this country the same way we process automobiles and sausage.
To 11:14. You are spot on with your fantasies. Mine is for a judge to sit patiently and listen to a former prosecutor plead for a deviation from the guidelines and then deny the request and as support for it, read into the record the attorney's previous support of calculator type sentences. Ain't gonna happen but dream on.
"Anyone with the temerity to insist on his Sixth Amendment right to trial is made an example of by the system"? How about the system rewards those who admit guilt as a first step to reformation and save society resources by giving up their right to trial. You see a trial penalty; others see a guilty plea discount. I think the latter is correct more often than the former.
As for these Trump pardons and commutations, justice was not a factor in the decision making. It was all about being able to pay or influence your way to get the man's attention. Any justice served was purely accidental.
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