The Demon Forces

That was the name of Chuckie Taylor's "Antiterrorist Unit" in Liberia. According to the AP:

The goal of the Antiterrorist Unit, according to the indictment, was to ''intimidate, neutralize, punish, weaken, and eliminate actual and perceived opponents of and threats to'' the Taylor government.

Taylor's real name is Charles McArthur Emmanuel. He pleaded not guilty to a superceding indictment today in front of Judge Altonaga. Some of the new allegations:

Many of the seven victims described in the indictment were held in below-ground pits covered with iron bars and barbed wire. In fall 1999, one victim was forced naked into a pit while members of Emmanuel's ATU allegedly ''shoveled stinging ants'' on top of him, the indictment said.

Melted plastic, hot irons, scalding water, electric shocks, beatings with weapons and iron bars, lit cigarettes and molten candle wax were all allegedly used to torture the victims described in the eight-count indictment, which covers the span from spring 1999 to late 2002.

Depressing...

The Dolphins lost. Ugly.
The Hurricanes lost. Badly.
How depressing.

Plus, my fantasy team is losing -- I need Chad Johnson, A. Boldin, and Todd Heap to have big games tonight.

If you aren't too depressed on this Monday morning and want to surf a bit before starting your day, here's Julie Kay's Justice Watch column wherein she reports that our new chief of criminal is Bob Senior, which is an excellent choice.

See ya, part deux

According to the AP, Judge Hoeveler has lifted the stay of extradition for Manuel Noriega, so it appears as though he will be headed to France...

I would post an over/under on when he'll be headed out of here, but I don't want to take any more of Rumpole's $... Now, he only wants action on the NFL. I'm happy to oblige, even if he did get lucky on last night's opener. (Note to AUSAs reading blog -- this is all in jest; there is no actual gambling occurring.)

Short stay for Noriega

Looks like Noriega's lawyers will have an all-nighter tonight -- Judge Hoeveler gave them until 9AM tomorrow morning to back up their claim that Noriega wouldn't be treated properly under the Geneva Convention.

From the AP:

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the extradition of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, giving his lawyers time to present "credible evidence" that he would not receive Geneva Conventions protections if sent to France.
Noriega's lawyers had asked Senior U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler to stop the extradition to France, where he will face money laundering charges after his scheduled release from U.S. prison this weekend.
Defense attorneys have argued that Noriega should be sent back to Panama because he is a prisoner of war due the protections of the Geneva Conventions. They claim that there is "substantial reason" to believe that France instead intends to treat Noriega as a "common criminal."
Noriega's attorneys have until 9 a.m. Thursday to make their case, Hoeveler said. Federal prosecutors will then have until noon that day to respond, the judge ruled.

"This may be the worst day of my life."

That was Ken Jenne after his pleaded guilty today in federal court.

From the Sun-Sentinel:

Sentencing for Jenne was set for Nov. 16 before U.S. District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. Until then, he remains free on $100,000 bond.

Sentencing guidelines in Jenne's plea agreement call for a prison term of 18-24 months, but prosecutors could ask for more, and Jenne's defense could ask for less.``If I give you a higher sentence, that's a chance you take. You understand that, don't you?'' Dimitrouleas asked.``Yes, your honor,'' Jenne replied.

This passage struck me:

Ever the politician, Jenne, 60, chatted amiably with the chief prosecutor, Michael "Pat" Sullivan, minutes before his morning court appearance."Good seeing you," Jenne told Sullivan, patting him on the arm. Jenne appeared stoic, dressed in a navy blue pinstripe suit.

Ken Jenne

The media is all over Ken Jenne's plea today.

High-profile defendants always bring with them the question of whether they should get more time because of deterrence and because they owed a greater duty to society and so on. Or should they get a lower sentence because of all the good work they have done for society? Should the court take into account that the time in prison will be more difficult for a high profile defendant? These questions seem particularly relevant when it's a police officer defendant.

So what say you SDFLA readers? If you were judge, what would your sentence be for Jenne. A guideline sentence of 18-24 months? More? Less?

Ken Jenne plea agreement and information

Here's the plea agreement and the information (courtesy of the Miami Herald).

A couple interesting facts:

1. The case drew Judge William Dimitrouleas, a Clinton (corrected from original post) appointee. Before getting appointed, Judge D (as he is known in this District) was a state public defender (for two years), a state prosecutor (for 12 years), and a state judge (for ten years). In other words, he knows Jenne well. How this will cut is anyone's guess.

2. The plea agreement calls for an advisory guideline range of 18-24 months. Many plea agreements do not set forth how the guidelines are calculated, but this one does in (complicated) detail.

3. Former U.S. Attorney Tom Scott, along with David Bogenschutz, signed the plea agreement as Jenne's lawyers.

4. Both sides reserved the right to argue for sentences different than the guidelines. Sometimes defendants and prosecutors will agree that the guidelines will apply and sometimes the defense reserves the right to argue for a lower sentence. In this case, the defense reserved its right to argue for a lower sentence and the prosecution reserved the right to argue for a higher sentence.

Ken Jenne resigns, will plead guilty

From the Miami Herald:

Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne -- at one time the county's most powerful politician -- has resigned and agreed to plead guilty to federal corruption charges involving tens of thousands of dollars he allegedly received from sheriff's office contractors and employees, sources said Tuesday.

After months of personal anguish, Jenne decided Monday to cut the plea deal on tax evasion and other felony charges to limit his prison time because he also was staring at an imminent grand jury indictment on more serious fraud and money-laundering offenses, sources said.

The U.S. attorney's office plans to file the charges, plea agreement and proffer statement involving the allegations against Jenne on Tuesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. The plea agreement means Jenne, who earned $169,800 a year as sheriff, will surrender to authorities to face tax-evasion related charges as early as Tuesday afternoon.

Jenne will likely serve some prison time -- possibly between one and two years -- and have to pay back taxes and fines to the Internal Revenue Service, sources said.

Jenne, a lawyer who spent most of his life in public service, also will likely lose his Florida Bar license and sheriff's pension because of the felony conviction. His pension is estimated to be about $125,000 a year. In the plea, Jenne is expected to admit to abusing the public trust, sources said, a concession that will hurt his post-conviction effort to save his pension.

More commentary to follow once we see the plea agreement and the information. For now, here's his resignation letter to the Governor.