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Any attorney Aaron hired would be able to read the sentencing guidelines manual (it's published in a convenient softcover version that any federal criminal atto

Any attorney Aaron hired would be able to read the sentencing guidelines manual (it's published in a convenient softcover version that any federal criminal attorney has on his/her desk) and inform Aaron that the maximum realistic sentence was less than a year, and that as long as the sentence was on "Zone A" on the chart I provided, the judge would be free to give probation with zero jail time. The maximum sentence was 35 years because that's the maximum penalty for all forms of wire fraud. The prosecutor is constitutionally required to inform the defendant of the maximum sentence. If you ever sit in on a plea colloquy you'll hear the prosecutor tell the defendant the maximum sentence and the defendant acknowledge the maximum, even if everybody knows that the sentence will be time served, or probation, or just a fine/restitution. I don't know why Aaron's lawyer dropped the ball on this.

toyg 14y ago
> I don't know why Aaron's lawyer dropped the ball on this. We don't know he did. From his (and Lessig's, who was also involved) statements, it looks like he got the feeling that Heymann and Ortiz were not bluffing, that they wanted to make an example out of Aaron and lock him up for real. We can only second-guess their motives (and many have done just that, in the last four days), but from what it has emerged until now, there was a real sense in Aaron's legal team that the prosecution was bent on throwing him in jail, even just for one day, and would have had it from any judge in the circuit. For sure, there was no incentive for the prosecution to be lenient: no loot to recover, no co-conspirators to turn, no scandal to keep quiet, nothing. I guess we'll know a bit more about all this in a year or two, when investigative books will come out and people in the US Attorney office will start unbuttoning, or maybe after the next Presidential cycle if there is a party switch at the top.

toyg 14y ago

> I don't know why Aaron's lawyer dropped the ball on this. We don't know he did. From his (and Lessig's, who was also involved) statements, it looks like he got the feeling that Heymann and Ortiz were not bluffing, that they wanted to make an example out of Aaron and lock him up for real. We can only second-guess their motives (and many have done just that, in the last four days), but from what it has emerged until now, there was a real sense in Aaron's legal team that the prosecution was bent on throwing him in jail, even just for one day, and would have had it from any judge in the circuit. For sure, there was no incentive for the prosecution to be lenient: no loot to recover, no co-conspirators to turn, no scandal to keep quiet, nothing. I guess we'll know a bit more about all this in a year or two, when investigative books will come out and people in the US Attorney office will start unbuttoning, or maybe after the next Presidential cycle if there is a party switch at the top.