D.C. case’s disparity in sentences sheds light on federal judges’ discretion
Washington Times | Apr 3, 2011
After he admitted shooting and killing a 24-year-old D.C. man, Dominic Samuels received a sentence of seven years in prison.
After his conviction for a $600, half-ounce cocaine deal, Antwaun Ball got a sentence of 18 years in prison.
Samuels and Ball were sentenced in the same federal courthouse in Washington. They stood before the same judge. They were co-defendants in the same trial. But their vastly different punishments provide a stark reminder of just how much discretion federal judges have at sentencing. The outcomes also shed light on a controversial but perfectly legal practice that lets judges mete out tougher sentences based on conduct that jurors rejected at trial.
