What a joke!!

[MavsFanFinley]

Associated Press

DETROIT -- A federal judge on Tuesday deferred for about two years the sentencing of Sacramento Kings star Chris Webber, who admitted lying to a grand jury about his dealings with a former University of Michigan basketball booster.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds instead ordered a provision to Webber's bond that requires him to volunteer at a six-week summer literacy program at Butzel Middle School in Detroit in the summers of 2004 and 2005. Webber must work at least 150 hours each summer.

Edmunds deferred sentencing until August or September of 2005.

In July, Webber pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of criminal contempt a day before jury selection was to begin in his perjury trial.

Webber and his father, Mayce Webber Jr., were accused of lying about money authorities say the player received from ex-booster Ed Martin. The maximum penalty would have been five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

"I believe that Mr. Webber understands the seriousness of his offense, that he is remorseful," Edmunds said at a brief hearing. But she said she was undecided whether to treat Webber's criminal contempt plea as a felony or misdemeanor.

"I don't call this punishment," Webber's attorney, Steve Fishman, said after the hearing. "Chris is looking forward to participating."

Outside the federal courthouse, Webber apologized to his fans, thanked the judge and thanked the people of Detroit and Sacramento for their support. He said he maintains strong emotional ties to the University of Michigan despite the payment scandal.

"My heart bleeds maize and blue," he said. "They were the happiest days of my life."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino said the judge's decision was unprecedented but declined comment on it.

A day after Webber's plea, the charges against his father were dropped for "weak or inadmissible sufficient evidence," according to a court order.

In his plea, Webber admitted lying to the grand jury on Aug. 2, 2000, in saying he did not recall giving money to Martin, who died earlier this year. Webber now acknowledges that in 1994 he gave Martin about $38,000 in cash as partial repayment for expenditures Martin made on his behalf.

Martin, who died in February at age 69, pleaded guilty in 2002 to conspiracy to launder money and told federal prosecutors he took gambling money, combined it with other funds and lent $616,000 to Webber and three other Michigan players.

In November, Michigan imposed sanctions on itself, including a one-year postseason ban, and forfeited 112 regular-season and tournament victories from five seasons, including its victory in the 1992 NCAA semifinal.

In May, the NCAA infractions committee banned Michigan from another year of postseason play, reduced the number of scholarships the school is allowed to have and placed the program on probation.

[ocelot_ark]

bull. shit.

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: ocelot_ark
bull. shit.

Uber Bull Shit!

[kg_veteran]

"I believe that Mr. Webber understands the seriousness of his offense, that he is remorseful," Edmunds said at a brief hearing.

I bet 99.9% of the other criminals making a plea bargain in Judge Edmunds' court wish they could hear these words. Hey, if you're remorseful, why do you need to be sentenced?

And the real pity of it all is that Judge Edmunds is a federal district judge, meaning she is appointed and not subject to removal except by impeachment. If this were a Texas state court, Judge Edmunds would get "un-elected" for such a complete abdication of her judicial responsibilities.

[Shaq Attack2]

But Webber is god!

This makes me hate Webber even more. I wouldn't be surprised if he had Martin assassinated.

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: Shaq Attack2
But Webber is god!

This makes me hate Webber even more. I wouldn't be surprised if he had Martin assassinated.

He died of a pulmonary embolism. [img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]

[ocelot_ark]

double post

[Chiwas]

A serious joke.

[Nash13]

This really urks me to the point where i have no respect for the Federal Court. You mean to tell me that innocent college basketball players had to miss a season and a chance to shine because of Webber's mistakes, and he goes scotch free?

I wonder what kind of punishment the Maloof brothers are going to give him?

[u2sarajevo]

Are the lawyers on this site defense lawyers? If so, do you take joy when you read stuff like this? I can't believe that can happen. I mean I guess I should since it did, but every time a celeb gets preferencial treatment it makes me lose faith in our judicial system...

Up next? Kobe. He wont see a jail cell, which should make you happy ShaqAttack.... Not saying he should, but even if he were guilty (which I obviously do not know) I think he would be found not guilty or get probation or something less than jail time.

When will a celebrity ever do time? Did that Barbarella guy ever get a sentence? Did he go free?

[MFFL]

Originally posted by: u2sarajevo
When will a celebrity ever do time?

Mike Tyson did hard time but that is an exception. I don't think it has as much to do with being a celebrity as it has to do with money. The best lawyers cost a lot of money and they are worth every cent.

[OutletPass]

Nope U2, I was a prosecutor in the DA's office here in Dallas (Dooby doesn't do criminal defense either...he's in a completely different field) and I hate this shit. (And as you can tell, so does Brother KG) . Since MFF posted it, I did a little research on this judge. No connection to the University of Michigan in her background. She has two sons...no connection there either. They're out East. She's had some interesting cases...the Haddad detention case is one...here's a bit from the description:

"A federal judge in Detroit ruled Wednesday that a government policy to close deportation hearings of individuals targeted in the sweeping terrorism investigation launched after the Sept. 11 attacks is unconstitutional. The decision by U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds is the first by a federal judge on the controversial issue of closed hearings and could have a broad influence." The 6th Circuit later overturned her.

Not too much to say about most of her major decisions; a lot of trademark litigation...an abortion case that wasn't much..Kid Rock's fight with his "business partners"..the only other criminal case of any note is the "Cash Flow Posse" case, where the Federal Government tried to impose the death penalty on some local gang members fighting over turf...she ruled that the Federal Government didn't have jurisdiction as there wasn't any "Interstate Commerce" involved.

There's no real "constant" in her cases...nothing to really define her....The most that I can say is that it seems that she's very independent...not liberal, not conservative...just kind of a maverick judge. Maybe that explains the Webber decision.

The idea of diversion has been around in the law for a while, here's the idea: Appplicable when it appears that both society and the defendant will benefit by involving the defendant in a meaningful rehabilitation program, thereby avoiding deleterious effects that normal criminal prosecution has on the offender and the resources of the justice system. Diversion is accomplished by both deferred sentencing and deferred prosecution. It is sometimes administered after a guilty plea is entered, which plea is expunged (removed) from the defendant’s records if he/she meets the terms of the diversion. (Watch out for this down the road, it's a pretty sure bet)

The Federal Prosecutor's statement was a little strange to me....deferred sentencing has been around for a while. There's a Federal case in oklahoma that I know of...where a man plead guilty to "lewd acts with a minor" and his sentence was deferred for 5 (DAMN) years. Pure insanity. I'm going to do some more research on the subject and will report back what I find.

As a prosecutor, you work VERY hard...and then a Judge does something like this out of the blue. It just makes you crazy...so, wonder why I quit practicing and turned to writing ? How can I, as an adult and an attorney, adequately explain this to a great, young guy like Nash13 after reading his post and say "The system makes sense". I can't and won't because it doesn't.

We may be focused on Webber's case because we're Mavs' fans...but he's just one small piece in this nonsense. Try this on for size: The child molester in Oklahoma may well have his conviction expunged (erased) from his record some day. This is what we, as prosecutors, have to fight against every damn day...and if it doesn't go our way because of some Maverick judge...we have to find a way to live with it. Ultimately, I couldn't and can't.

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: u2sarajevo
Are the lawyers on this site defense lawyers? If so, do you take joy when you read stuff like this? I can't believe that can happen. I mean I guess I should since it did, but every time a celeb gets preferencial treatment it makes me lose faith in our judicial system...

Up next? Kobe. He wont see a jail cell, which should make you happy ShaqAttack.... Not saying he should, but even if he were guilty (which I obviously do not know) I think he would be found not guilty or get probation or something less than jail time.

When will a celebrity ever do time? Did that Barbarella guy ever get a sentence? Did he go free?

'

Rae Carruth? Mike Tyson? Not enough IMO. BTW, did Mark Chumra (sp) do time? I know his football career was over after that case.

[u2sarajevo]

Thanks OP for your posts above. I can only imagine how frustrating these rulings are to you as a prosecutor. I find it equally as frustrating, as I am sure others do.

I think I would still feel the same if I wasn't a Mavericks fan. Every one of these cases involving a celebrity that gets off scott free leaves me feeling our system has more flaws than we suspect. And that is simply not fair.

[Drbio]

I wouldn't expect Shaq Attackless2 to understand pulmonary embolism after that arthritis bit.

[OutletPass]

Jeremiah...the case began as a grand Jury investigation of Martin running an illegal lottery....it wasn't about Webber at all, at first.

Lying to an Investigative Grand jury is obstruction of justice. Lying to a grand jury is also perjury. I think that's a pretty simple explanation of why it's a "big deal".

Webber escaped the whole thing when Martin died (as Martin was going to testify against Webber). After his death, Judge Edmunds ruled that Martin's "tally sheets" and records of payment were inadmissible. So, a "save face" deal was cut insuring that Webber wouldn't do time. Webber didn't want to have to go through a trial and the Prosecutor didn't want to take the risk of losing a high profile case. So he pleas to criminal contempt...and Judge Edmunds totally bags it by not sentencing him, then probating it...thus keeping it on his record. Because of the deferred sentencing, he can have it wiped off his record in two years, as though it never, ever happened.

And that's the ridiculous part to me. He perjured himself and admitted it....so, at the very least, it should be on his record.

[kg_veteran]

He perjured himself and admitted it....so, at the very least, it should be on his record.

We'll just have to do our best to make sure that Webber doesn't forget -- every single time he comes to Dallas. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by: OutletPass
Jeremiah...the case began as a grand Jury investigation of Martin running an illegal lottery....it wasn't about Webber at all, at first.

Lying to an Investigative Grand jury is obstruction of justice. Lying to a grand jury is also perjury. I think that's a pretty simple explanation of why it's a "big deal".

Webber escaped the whole thing when Martin died (as Martin was going to testify against Webber). After his death, Judge Edmunds ruled that Martin's "tally sheets" and records of payment were inadmissible. So, a "save face" deal was cut insuring that Webber wouldn't do time. Webber didn't want to have to go through a trial and the Prosecutor didn't want to take the risk of losing a high profile case. So he pleas to criminal contempt...and Judge Edmunds totally bags it by not sentencing him, then probating it...thus keeping it on his record. Because of the deferred sentencing, he can have it wiped off his record in two years, as though it never, ever happened.

And that's the ridiculous part to me. He perjured himself and admitted it....so, at the very least, it should be on his record.

Thanks for the explanation.

[Shaq Attack2]

Originally posted by: Drbio
I wouldn't expect Shaq Attackless2 to understand pulmonary embolism after that arthritis bit.

Apparently you lack the ability to sense sarcasm, which isn't surprising considering your average of 34 posts per day and 20,000 posts total, you don't get to communicate with real humans much I suppose.

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: Shaq Attack2

Apparently you lack the ability to sense sarcasm, which isn't surprising considering your average of 34 posts per day and 20,000 posts total, you don't get to communicate with real humans much I suppose.

Awww.....a personal attack for me? thanks. A laker fan took the time to personally attack me on a mavericks board. what a loser. Since you were so thoroughly undressed on the arthritis issue, I thought you just might want to impress us all with your knowledge on pulmonary embolisms too. I bet you have that as well.

[Shaq Attack2]

Originally posted by: Drbio

Awww.....a personal attack for me? thanks. A laker fan took the time to personally attack me on a mavericks board. what a loser. Since you were so thoroughly undressed on the arthritis issue, I thought you just might want to impress us all with your knowledge on pulmonary embolisms too. I bet you have that as well.

Awww.....look who's attacking who now. Get out more.