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In the nearly four months since Thomas Throckmorton was sent to jail to await sentencing for distributing large quantities of marijuana, he has gained 50 pounds and been beaten into unconsciousness by other inmates who wanted to steal his commissary items.
He has diabetes and heart disease, high blood pressure and what could be the beginnings of congestive heart failure. Mr. Throckmorton, 61, of Baden, is also under treatment for anxiety and severe depression.
For all those reasons, his lawyer, Paul Boas, asked a federal judge yesterday for leniency for his client.
"I'm just asking the court to temper its justice with mercy," Mr. Boas said.
The judge, who could consider an advisory sentencing range up to nine years, chose the low end. He ordered Mr. Throckmorton to spend seven years and three months in prison.
Mr. Throckmorton was convicted April 28 of one count of possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. A jury found that the Beaver County man paid another man to drive to Arizona to pick up 233 pounds of marijuana for him.
That man, Robert Gailey, was pulled over by the Missouri State Highway Patrol on July 17, 2005. When officers searched the GMC truck he was driving -- which was registered to Mr. Throckmorton's company - -- they found the marijuana in a secret compartment.
Mr. Gailey told troopers he was transporting it for Mr. Throckmorton and had made other trips in the past. He agreed to cooperate with them, and they set up a controlled delivery, at which Mr. Throckmorton was arrested.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Almon S. Burke Jr. asked the judge to sentence Mr. Throckmorton as though he'd had 720 pounds of marijuana - -- the amount he was supposed to have delivered at a later date -- but U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry refused.
"He wasn't charged with that, or convicted of that, so those additional amounts are not going to be bumped into those advisory sentencing guidelines," the judge said.
Mr. Throckmorton faced a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, but Mr. Boas asked the judge if that could be served in home detention.
"He's a sitting duck, and he's an easy target for people," Mr. Boas said. "It's very likely he won't do well in a prison setting."
But Judge McVerry said that he called the federal Bureau of Prisons himself to ensure that Mr. Throckmorton would be placed in a facility with good medical care. In addition, the judge said that his move from the Allegheny County Jail to federal prison will be expedited, and that he hopes it happens at "record speed."
Mr. Boas told the judge that he plans to appeal the conviction.
Newshawk: Happykid - 420 Magazine
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Pubdate: Tue, 15 Aug 2006
Author: Paula Reed Ward
Copyright: 2006 PG Publishing
Contact: letters@post-gazette.com
Website: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
He has diabetes and heart disease, high blood pressure and what could be the beginnings of congestive heart failure. Mr. Throckmorton, 61, of Baden, is also under treatment for anxiety and severe depression.
For all those reasons, his lawyer, Paul Boas, asked a federal judge yesterday for leniency for his client.
"I'm just asking the court to temper its justice with mercy," Mr. Boas said.
The judge, who could consider an advisory sentencing range up to nine years, chose the low end. He ordered Mr. Throckmorton to spend seven years and three months in prison.
Mr. Throckmorton was convicted April 28 of one count of possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. A jury found that the Beaver County man paid another man to drive to Arizona to pick up 233 pounds of marijuana for him.
That man, Robert Gailey, was pulled over by the Missouri State Highway Patrol on July 17, 2005. When officers searched the GMC truck he was driving -- which was registered to Mr. Throckmorton's company - -- they found the marijuana in a secret compartment.
Mr. Gailey told troopers he was transporting it for Mr. Throckmorton and had made other trips in the past. He agreed to cooperate with them, and they set up a controlled delivery, at which Mr. Throckmorton was arrested.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Almon S. Burke Jr. asked the judge to sentence Mr. Throckmorton as though he'd had 720 pounds of marijuana - -- the amount he was supposed to have delivered at a later date -- but U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry refused.
"He wasn't charged with that, or convicted of that, so those additional amounts are not going to be bumped into those advisory sentencing guidelines," the judge said.
Mr. Throckmorton faced a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, but Mr. Boas asked the judge if that could be served in home detention.
"He's a sitting duck, and he's an easy target for people," Mr. Boas said. "It's very likely he won't do well in a prison setting."
But Judge McVerry said that he called the federal Bureau of Prisons himself to ensure that Mr. Throckmorton would be placed in a facility with good medical care. In addition, the judge said that his move from the Allegheny County Jail to federal prison will be expedited, and that he hopes it happens at "record speed."
Mr. Boas told the judge that he plans to appeal the conviction.
Newshawk: Happykid - 420 Magazine
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Pubdate: Tue, 15 Aug 2006
Author: Paula Reed Ward
Copyright: 2006 PG Publishing
Contact: letters@post-gazette.com
Website: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
