Defense In Bank Fraud Case Nets Big Support From Former AGs In Upcoming Sentencing Decision

Here’s something that white collar criminal defendants don’t see very often: numerous individuals who have served as U.S. Attorney General and as U.S. Attorneys are opposing the federal government’s request for a life sentence to be imposed on Sholom Rubashkin, convicted of bank fraud earlier several months ago. In a letter to the court, the leading lawyers note that the “potential absurdity of the sentencing guidelines are on full display in this case because, at least according to the government’s proposed calculations, the advisory sentencing guidelines here recommend a life sentence for Mr. Rubashkin.” In their view, they “cannot fathom how truly sound and sensible sentencing rules could call for a life sentence—or anything close to it—for Mr. Rubashkin,” a 51 year old, “first-time, non-violent offender whose  case  involves  many mitigating factors and whose personal history and extraordinary family circumstances suggest that a sentence of a modest number of years could and would be more than sufficient to serve any and all applicable sentencing purposes.”

The authors of the letter are:
 
Nicholas Katzenbach
Attorney General of the United States (1965-66)
 
Edwin Meese III
Attorney General of the United States (1985-88)
 
Larry D. Thompson
Deputy Attorney General of the United States (200 1-03)
United States Attorney, Northern District of Georgia (1982-86)
 
A. Bates Butler III
United States Attorney District of Arizona (1980-8 1)
 
Robert Cleary
United States Attorney
District of New Jersey (1999-2002) Southern District of Illinois (2002)
 
Charles Redding Pitt
United States Attorney
Middle District of Alabama (1994-1998)
 
James H. Reynolds
United States Attorney
Northern District of Iowa (1977-82)
 
Benito Romano
United States Attorney
Southern District of New York (1989)
 
John W. Stokes Jr. United States Attorney
Northern District of Georgia (1969-77)
 
Brett Tolman
United States Attorney
District of Utah (2006-09)
 
Alan Vinegrad
United States Attorney
Eastern District of New York (2001-02)