The only people who believed a nine-year-long sentence for Roger Stone was a great idea were the prosecutors who quit in faux disgust when they were overruled by their boss.
The media were in full meltdown when Attorney General William Barr overruled the suggested sentencing memo, saying it was out of bounds and too long for the alleged crimes. It turns out he wasn’t the only one who thought that. The judge thought so, too.
Barr, who had assigned others to oversee the case, asked for a 36-40-month sentence for Stone.
In the end, Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months – exactly what the DOJ recommended in the final sentencing memo – and said the other sentencing memo was “too much.”
Jackson says she agrees with the amended sentence memo, in terms of its scope. She also says that the defense's probation request is "simply not sufficient."
— Bill Rehkopf (@BillRehkopf) February 20, 2020
CBS reporter Bill Rehkopf was listening to the judge make her sentencing speech and noted, “Jackson continues to outline considerations she must take into account when coming up with sentence, including one that is ‘sufficient enough.’ Says original sentencing memorandum was well-researched and according to law. But says that’s too much.”
In fact, she agrees with the amended sentencing memo, the one Barr suggested: “Jackson says she agrees with the amended sentence memo, in terms of its scope. She also says that the defense’s probation request is ‘simply not sufficient.'”
CBS reports the judge sent the case to a Florida jurisdiction, which is where Stone wanted it in the first place when he asked for a change of venue. However, Jackson will still oversee the case.
Stone was denied a new trial after the jury forewoman identified herself and it was learned she was a politically active lawyer, former congressional candidate and Leftist who wrote on her social media that she hates Trump and followed the Mueller investigation. She told the judge she hadn’t and could be objective.
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