Federal prosecutors took back their scorching criticism of U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter Wednesday, two days after blasting his 55-month sentence for former State Sen. Vincent Fumo as "a travesty."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bresnick, in the case of former City Council aide Christopher Wright, today amended his Aug. 3 sentencing memorandum in which he took issue with Buckwalter's sentence for Fumo and urged Wright's judge to disregard the potential precedent it could set.
Wright, former chief of staff to Councilman Jack Kelly, is to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno on Monday after being convicted of conspiracy in a public corruption indictment in February. In his original memo, Bresnick wrote:
"The Fumo sentence was, as scores of citizens stated in unsolicited letters and phone calls to our office and to the district judge's chambers, a travesty. Besides imposing insufficient punishment for the offenses at issue, its worst legacy will arise if other judges follow that court's mistaken lead, and use the Fumo sentence as a baseline for public corruption offenses. That should not happen. This court should not follow a path of condoning and lightly punishing breaches of the public trust by public officials."
Bresnick is seeking a 78-month sentence for Wright -- nearly two years more than Fumo, who was convicted on 137 counts. Wright was convicted on three of 13 counts. His memo was also signed by U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy, which is customary.
But for a prosecutor to direct such fiery words at a federal judge is not customary. Someone in the U.S. Attorney's Office apparently found that language a bit strong, and on Wednesday Bresnick submitted a new memo, which dramatically changed the passage related to Fumo.
It now reads: "The government respectfully suggests that the Fumo sentence was not sufficient for the crimes that Fumo committed and requests that it should not be considered by this court as a guidepost when fashioning an appropriate sentence for Christopher Wright."
The rest of the changes in the document were minor.
The U.S. Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
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can you say corrupt. the dems and gop have run rough shot of this once great country time for us to throw them out. bring back the wigs.— give me liberty or death- Seems like the revision is appropriate, especially because the original version was unnecessary.— NotADoneDeal
- The original version expressed the general anger of a lot of people over the weak sentence imposed by Buckwalter. I think it would be appropriate for the US attorney's office or Dept of Justice to issue conviction rates and sentencing patterns for all federal judges. I would include demographics in this report. BTW, Buckwalter was appointed by Prez Bush the elder... Don't think there is much difference between Dem, Rep, Whig or Tory, either in the politics or what they ultimately brought government and society.— nebulus
- In other words, Mike Levy has no backbone whatsoever. If you are going to take a stand, take a stand. Very disappointing.— George Jacobs
- They smell just keeps getting worse at 601 Market Street.— 1adam12
Comment removed.- No balls, no spine. How do these guys walk upright?— JStocker
- Whine, whine whine. They offered Fumo a plea deal for the same time he got. If they thought the case was worth five years before trial, what changed after trial? Do we punish a citizen for exercising his constitutional right to a jury trial?— Rowland
- Hey, we all back down to an edict from our bosses from time to time. He told the truth the first time and after he was probably repromanded, told it in a polite way the second time around. I'don't doubt that the judge saw both versions. Good job and keep up th good work.— jmort
- It's simple. A black man who did yes of a crime in City Hall got twice the time. This judge is corrupt, so they kiss hie rear when the white guy gets half the time. It's all the good ole boy network. You know the right people and you either get off or get a couple years at a fed ountry club pen.— kingnutter
- The US Attorney's Office is run by a bunch of wimpy, gum shoe attorneys who cannot litigate. They only take simple cases with a 100% chance of success. They use the possibility of long sentences to force pleas. Now that Judge Buchwalter showed what an irrational human being he is, the Asst. US Attorney's might have to actually handle real trials like big boys and girls. The fact that an AUSA critized a judge and was forced to back down DOES show the Office needs some %#(*&!— philly68
- AMERICA in turmoil. Everybody shut up !!!!— FJG JR
- The argument for giving Fumo the same sentence after conviction as was offered to him during plea bargaining doesn't make sense. The purpose of giving lesser sentences during plea is to reward the criminal for saving the state the expense and effort of prosecution. Same sentence before and after sends the message to don't plead guilty even if you are guilty and you get the bonus of a chance of getting away with it during the trial process.— over-taxed
- 98% of the complaints that came into the feds office, were from local 98. with the exception of local news papers, nobody else really cared that much.— gotcha
- Comment removed.
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