Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men will be sentenced by a federal judge starting Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Tom Lee will sentence two defendants each day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after twice delaying the proceedings. Each faces the potential of decades behind bars.
From the article:
On the federal charges, Dedmon and Elward each face a maximum sentence of 120 years plus life in prison and $2.75 million in fines. Hartfield faces a possible sentence of 80 years and $1.5 million, McAlpin faces 90 years and $1.75 million, Middleton faces 80 years and $1.5 million, and Opdyke could be sentenced to 100 years with a $2 million fine.
Fortunately, doesn’t seem like they’re letting them off easy or anything.
I read the maximums, and I’m just concerned the judge could be “lenient” with sentencing.
The people who write these news articles usually have no idea how sentencing guidelines work (or don’t care because bigger number = more clicks) and these numbers are much higher than someone with no criminal record would get. They also pleaded guilty and will serve federal and state time simultaneously which will reduce their sentence.
I suspect they will get at most 20 years each unless the judge really hates them regardless of what they deserve.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer
