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OfflineWronguy

Registered: 03/05/05
Posts: 4,450
Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
Mandatory 55-year sentence 'extreme'? [UT]
    #7714628 - 12/04/07 10:12 AM (16 years, 1 month ago)

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7630076

Mandatory 55-year sentence 'extreme'?

Lawyers for a Utah record producer serving 55 years in prison for carrying a firearm while dealing pot filed a request Monday for a resentencing, saying the punishment is "extreme" and unconstitutional.

The attorneys also cite two other alleged grounds for a new sentencing for 28-year-old Weldon Angelos: Prosecutorial vindictiveness in seeking such a harsh penalty for a first-time offender and deficient performance by the defense during plea negotiations and trial.

"As a result of three sales of small amounts of marijuana to a paid informant and the suspect charging decisions by federal prosecutors, Angelos received a 55-year sentence that highlights the most unjust and arbitrary aspects of the federal criminal justice system and mandatory minimum sentencing provisions," the motion for resentencing says.

The motion was filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, where Judge Paul Cassell reluctantly imposed the mandatory term almost four years ago. Cassell described the sentence as "unjust, cruel and irrational," but said he had no choice under the law but to impose it.

Angelos, founder of Extravagant Records, was convicted by a jury of 16 counts of weapons and drug violations after officers arranged three drug buys from him in mid-2002. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court later upheld the sentence and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said Monday that prosecutors will review the motion.

Angelos was accused of selling eight ounces of marijuana for $350 in each sale. At one sale, he had a gun strapped to his ankle and there were firearms in the vicinity during the other drug buys, according to court records.

A federal grand jury originally indicted Angelos in November 2002 on one gun possession count, three counts of marijuana distribution and two lesser charges. After Angelos rejected a plea bargain that would have sent him to prison for 16 years, authorities obtained a new indictment with 20 charges.

When Angelos asked to reopen negotiations, prosecutors said it was too late. He was convicted in December 2003 and later sentenced to the 55-year term. He had no prior adult convictions.

Monday's motion - filed by a team of lawyers that recently stepped into the case - says recent statistics show that the vast majority of all felony marijuana trafficking convictions result in a prison term of less than one year. Contesting guilt at trial when the three sales were under police surveillance instead of plea bargaining was bad strategy, according to the motion.

The lawyers also say that "the government's pursuit of superseding indictments with extreme sentencing consequences was motivated, at least in part, to punish Angelos for his interest in exercising his constitutionally protected right to a jury trial."

Angelos' sentencing sparked a national debate on mandatory sentences and prompted dozens of former judges and prosecutors to join in friend-of-the-court briefs to the 10th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court seeking reversal of the punishment.


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