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Honesty apparently not the best policy for one federal child porn defendant

By Douglas A. Berman

I believe in, repeat to my kids, and try to live by the credo "Honesty is the best policy."  But this local story of a federal child porn sentencing in Alabama, headlined "Unregistered sex offender?s honesty about sexual urges lands him harsher sentence," spotlights that federal defendants can sometimes be forced to pay a steep price for honesty. Here are the notable details: Had it not been for Michael Wayne Powell?s honesty with probation officers, a federal judge here acknowledged, the Chunchula man likely would have gotten a routine prison sentence for having child pornography.  But Powell, 54, told a probation officer working on his presentence report that he had sexual urges that he could not control. U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade last week sentenced Powell to 20 years in prison, a rare instance of a federal judge imposing punishment greater than the range set forth under advisory sentencing guidelines...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 14, 2011 (boomark / email).