Lewis gets 4 monthes

[Victor]

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[ThaSaltCracka]

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[/ QUOTE ]must be nice to be a wealthy athlete, instead of getting charged with the more severe crimes(which he did, and which carry heavy mandatory minimums) he instead gets 4 months in Federal prison. What a an idiot, I hope this ends his football career.

[Dynasty]

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must be nice to be a wealthy athlete, instead of getting charged with the more severe crimes(which he did, and which carry heavy mandatory minimums) he instead gets 4 months in Federal prison. What a an idiot, I hope this ends his football career.

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Martha Stewart would disagree about the value of being rich and famous when being prosecuted.

[Zoltri]

[ThaSaltCracka]

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must be nice to be a wealthy athlete, instead of getting charged with the more severe crimes(which he did, and which carry heavy mandatory minimums) he instead gets 4 months in Federal prison. What a an idiot, I hope this ends his football career.

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Martha Stewart would disagree about the value of being rich and famous when being prosecuted.

[/ QUOTE ] How long did she get? I think also in Marthas case, the government wanted to appear tough on the corporate scandals and picking on Martha sort of achieved that.

[J.R.]

Exactly, I am sure this

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Federal prosecutors have offered a deal in which Lewis would receive a sentence of less than one year in prison, according to lawyers familiar with the negotiations.

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had nothing to do with this

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A key witness in the case against Lewis is Tomeka Richard, who has swindled victims from Texas and Georgia. Court records show that Richard continued to commit crimes while she cooperated with the FBI in making a case against Lewis and Jackson. Defense attorneys would be expected to attack her credibility.

Prosecutors allege that Lewis introduced Richard to Jackson at Houston's Restaurant in Buckhead, Ga., a meeting that authorities secretly tape-recorded.


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or this

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Lewis' attorneys are attacking the validity of five phone conversations taped by the confidential witness. In those five, only the witness' voice is heard and not the part of the conversation that allegedly involves Lewis.

The prosecution claims the witness accidentally placed the microphone the wrong way in the phone each time. But the defense attorneys disagreed.

"It's not as if the confidential witness woke up on a Wednesday morning and put an earpiece in backwards four times," said Donald Samuel, lead defense attorney for Lewis. "This happened over a course of time, one week, then the next week, then the next."


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or the fact that an alleged co-conspirators hearsay statements (FBI agents allege that co-defendant Jackson - the guy buying the coke - mentioned someone named Jamal during questioning the night of the arrest) are not admissable unless that co-defendant takes the stand, and in criminal trials defendants rarely testify (see 5th amendment).

This wasn't a football thing persae, although publicity helps because no federal prosecutor wants to risk losing a high profile case. Most criminal cases get pled, especially trials predicated on such supsect evidence. Trials are expensive, and federal prosecutors are expected to show results when they expend taxpayer's dollars in court.

[ThaSaltCracka]

I agree that there is apparently a lot of suspect evidence in the case but if Jamal was innocent, his counsel would not have pled, its that simple.

[Boris]

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I agree that there is apparently a lot of suspect evidence in the case but if Jamal was innocent, his counsel would not have pled, its that simple.

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No, it's not that simple. Federal sentencing guidelines are notoriously draconian in many instances. If you are a high net worth individual in your peak earning years, it definitely makes sense to cop a plea and not risk going to trial.

[sammysusar]

I guess even if he only a 25% chance of going to the pen for 10 years it still might be worth it to take the 4 months with certainty. Definitely not a dilemma I would want to face (I understand the argument that he put himself in this position - not really my point).
10 yrs in the pen would probably destroy his life while he'll probably recover from doing the 4 months.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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I agree that there is apparently a lot of suspect evidence in the case but if Jamal was innocent, his counsel would not have pled, its that simple.

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No, it's not that simple. Federal sentencing guidelines are notoriously draconian in many instances. If you are a high net worth individual in your peak earning years, it definitely makes sense to cop a plea and not risk going to trial.

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I am not saying anything about the sentencing, I agree they are Draconian, but if he was really 100% innocent, there is no way he takes the plea.