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"America's Sheriff" gets more than 5 years in the federal pen despite acquittals

By Douglas A. Berman

Over the weekend, I noted here the interesting issues surrounding today's sentencing of the former sheriff of Orange County, Mike Carona.  Here is the basic AP report on the proceedings: A former Southern California sheriff has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for tampering with a witness in his public corruption case.  U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford sentenced Michael Carona on Monday near the 6 1/2-year term that probation officials had recommended.... Carona was indicted on sweeping public corruption charges in 2007 and stepped down from the nation's fifth-largest sheriff's department.  In January, the jury rejected the heart of the case and convicted Carona of a single count of witness tampering.  And here is how a local weekly characterizes what happened during the sentencing, which highlights how acquitted conduct realities played a role in these proceedings: Once dubbed "America's Sheriff," Mike Carona was sentenced this afternoon to 66 months behind bars, two years probation after he serves the prison time and a $125,000 fine for attempting to sabotage a grand jury investigation into abuse of power and bribery at the Orange County Sheriff's Department...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on April 27, 2009 (boomark / email).