Surprising(?) outcomes in two high-profile federal sentencings
I previewed the two notable federal sentencings in this post, and here are links to press accounts of the outcomes:
From NPR: “Sean Combs sentenced to over four years in prison for prostitution-related charges.” The start of this piece:
On Friday, Sean Combs was sentenced by a federal judge to 50 months in prison. The 55-year-old music mogul was convicted in July on two counts of transportation for prostitution, but acquitted on more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
After a daylong hearing that culminated in Combs himself addressing the judge, speaking at length for the first time during the trial, Judge Arun Subramanian said that a significant sentence was required to “send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability.”
From Politico, “Would-be Kavanaugh assassin sentenced to over 8 years in prison.” From the start of this piece:
A person who admitted to traveling to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home in 2022 in an aborted attempt to kill him was sentenced Friday to just over eight years in prison by a judge who called the crime “incredibly serious,” but found unreasonable prosecutors’ recommendation of at least 30 years behind bars.
U.S. District Court Deborah Boardman imposed a 97-month prison term— just one month more than defense attorneys proposed — on Sophie Roske, 29, at the end of a daylong sentencing hearing. The judge also ordered that Roske be on supervised release, a form of probation, for the rest of her life.
I am surprised that by both outcomes here with Combs getting more and Roske getting less than I expected. In turn, I expect we will see an appeal by Combs to the Second Circuit (on both his guilt and sentence), and Attorney General Pam Bondi has already said that fedral prosecutors would appeal “the woefully insufficient sentence imposed by the district court” in the Roske case.