Do blacks and hispanic find mercy in the courtroom like Fastow did?

[The Backlash Cometh]

"What moves the arm of justice is mercy," Hoyt told Fastow. "You were drunk on the wine of greed ... (but) you had a double portion, in that your wife shared in that (punishment)."

(So, the lesson here, if you're black or hispanic and might get caught selling drugs on the street, is to take your wife with you to soften the punishment?)

Full article

Fastow gets six years

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Andrew Fastow, who helped engineer the financial trickery that sank Enron Corp. and then helped prosecutors convict others involved in the scandal, received a six-year sentence Tuesday, four years less than the deal he had made.

U.S. District Judge Ken Hoyt said the 44-year-old former Enron chief financial officer had given "exceptional" assistance to prosecutors, had pledged to help victims and had remorse, and his wife, Lea, had gone to prison for a year.

The judge imposed no fine and recommended a minimum security prison for Fastow. He rejected a request from lawyers for victims who are suing to recover losses that Fastow be allowed to surrender October 23 after giving a deposition in that case.


Fastow had agreed to a sentence of 10 years in pleading guilty in 2004.

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