EASTERN DISTRICT Judge Jack B. Weinstein, in his latest attempt to forge greater discretion for judges under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, has ordered a reduced sentence for a 49-year-old woman because of the coercive nature of her pretrial detention.
While the coercive nature of holding the woman in prison for one and a half years awaiting the start of her trial was not enough to warrant the setting aside of her guilty plea to money laundering charges, it was sufficient to shave 6 months off her sentence, Judge Weinstein concluded in U.S. v. Speed Joyeros, S.A., 00 CR 960.
