Fumo defense, prosecution issue sentencing advice

Prosecutors want former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo to go away for 15 years or more. Fumo's defense asks for mercy.

U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter will announce Fumo's sentence Tuesday in a hearing to begin at 10 a.m. in the federal courthouse at Sixth and Market Streets in Philadelphia.

In a sentencing memorandum Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorneys John J. Pease and Robert A. Zauzmer derided Fumo, a Philadelphia Democrat, as an arrogant and greedy criminal.

"In the annals of our rich history, one must reach far back into the past to find a more egregious case of a public official whose abuse of public office has caused such damage to the public's view of our democratic institutions in this state," the prosecutors wrote.

The defense asked Buckwalter to take into account Fumo's 30 years in the Senate. Defense lawyers also cited Fumo's heart problems and warned that a long sentence could well mean that Fumo would die in prison.

Defense lawyers Samuel Buffone, Dennis J. Cogan, and Peter Goldberger wrote that Fumo "was an effective, tireless and passionate advocate for his constituents and for the people of Philadelphia."

They said Buckwalter should impose a sentence "no greater than necessary" to achieve the goals of sentencing, such as deterring others.

They asked for a sentence "significantly below" the advisory federal sentencing guidelines.

In an interim win for Fumo, the judge ruled Friday that those guidelines call for Fumo to receive a sentence of between 11 and 14 years.

Buckwalter rejected the argument of prosecutors and the U.S. Probation Department that the guidelines called for imprisonment of 21 to 27 years.

- Emilie Lounsberry
and Craig R. McCoy