Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

Comparing white-collar apples and drug dealing oranges at sentencing

By Douglas A. Berman

This local article, headlined "Lawyers question Fumo's sentence: The former state senator appears to have gotten off easy for misusing $2.4 million in taxpayers' money, defense attorneys and prosecutors say," highlights the challenges of making sentencing comparison between different types of crimes involving different types of offenders.  Here are excerpts: Former state Sen. Vincent Fumo should consider himself lucky that he was convicted of misusing more than $2.4 million in taxpayers' money and not of selling crack cocaine. He'd likely have gotten far more than the 4.5-year federal prison term he received Tuesday had he been caught selling crack. With credit for good behavior, Fumo, 66, a multimillionaire political power broker from Philadelphia, could walk out of prison in 2013...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 17, 2009 (boomark / email).