For Judge T. S. Ellis III, who sentenced Paul Manafort to less than four years in prison this week for a corruption case involving $100 million, was not pronouncing his first sentence in a case of criminal corruption.
In 2012, Judge Ellis sentenced former Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, who was guilty of accepting a $100 thousand bribe to thirteen years in prison. At the time, Judge Eliot said he wanted this sentence to serve as a warning to others who would corrupt government processes.
What accounts for this visible disparity in sentencing?
Manafort stole $100,000,000, while Jefferson stole $100,000, so was the Judge rewarding Manafort for his financial acumen
Manafort is a Republican. Jefferson was a Democrat Basis for differential treatment?
Manafort is white, Jefferson is black. Basis for differential treatment?
Neither case involved collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, so that’s a wash
It’s funny that of the three first analyses I just found, none were overly critical. Which doesn’t make sense. I would hesitate to call it a racial thing without more comparisons to other sentences from Ellis. But I do agree with NBC that the wheelchair did play a role.
Still, we’ll see what happens this week. The judge can give him the max or more, from what I’ve been hearing.
So you are saying people working for the Legislative branch should be sentenced more harshly than those who work for the Executive? There is nothing about that in the Constitution. I thought you favored strict adherence to Constitutional standards.
