Sentencing in Staten Island Ferry case does not follow PSR recommendation

As detailed in this AP article, the “pilot at the helm of a Staten Island ferry during a deadly 2003 crash that killed 11 people was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison.  The city’s former ferry director was sentenced to one year in prison.”  As noted in this post, this case has already made sentencing headlines because the federal judge last month released to the public the presentence report in which a senior federal probation officer had recommended sharply reduced prison terms (only three months for the assistant captain and six months for his supervisor).

UPDATE: The New York Times has this compelling account of the sentencing, and notes that “the families seemed somewhat satisfied, perhaps because the sentences were well beyond those in the probation recommendation.”