how is this jail sentencing accurate? [5 stars for good answer!]?
Question:
after you read the situation, also please answer me this too--
Do you think he will get out within at most 5 years?
im not a lawyer, and i just want a better understand on if this guy [deandre washington] did not have a weapon, why is it okay for him to be sentenced for 30+ years.
here is the story:
MUSKOGEE — A Tulsa gang member and a convicted drug dealer have been charged in a murder-for-hire scheme to kill a Muskogee police officer.
Ronald Keith Irving, 35, of Muskogee and Deandre L. Washington, 22, of Tulsa, also known as "Monster," were charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma on Thursday.
They are charged with "tampering with a witness, victim or informant" by plotting to kill Muskogee Police Lt. Brian Stark.
The officer is a witness in a federal drug case against Irving, who is in the Muskogee County Jail.
Washington, whom authorities said is a known gang member, was supposed to receive $50,000 to kill Stark at his Muskogee home, records allege.
U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said Washington was the passenger in a car traveling to Muskogee on Wednesday to carry out the plan.
The FBI had been tipped off about the plan, and Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers arrested Washington about 8:30 p.m. as the vehicle crossed a Muskogee Turnpike bridge east of U.S. 69.
Sperling said the troopers had stopped traffic to ensure that they were able to pull over the vehicle and make the arrest safely.
An FBI affidavit accompanying the complaint contains comments recorded Monday in which a man agrees to carry out the killing:
"Can we do it before Thursday?" asks the man, whom prosecutors allege is Washington. "Do you know how to find him? I won't wound him. I will shoot him in the face.
"I will kill (Irving) if I don't get the money. It will be splat splat. We'll ride down there and boom boom. We will hit him at his house."
Stark and his family were not home at the time. Sperling said they were at a protected location.
Authorities believe that Washington was careful enough not to have yet been in possession of a weapon while on his way to Muskogee.
But Sperling said something else was chilling about his appearance when he was arrested.
"He was wearing surgical gloves," the prosecutor said.
The affidavit includes a note Irving is alleged to have written while in the Muskogee County Jail.
The note, which asked for the killing, was given to an inmate who became an informant, authorities said.
If convicted, Irving and Washington could receive as much as 30 years in prison and be fined $250,000.
Answer:
Imagine you were a mob boss who gave the order to kill someone. They said they were going to go kill them with a gun. Then they ended up strangling them instead. Does it matter?
The point is the letter requesting the hit shows an attempt and the intent to commit the crime. This is especially strong in combination with the person lurking around the area, wearing gloves, after they agreed to do the hit. The mere fact that he did not have a gun on him when he was caught does not mean he could not have (1) gotten a gun, (2) ditched the gun, or (3) kill the person in another manner.
In this case the prosecution will try to show that this evidence shows, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he attempted to tamper with evidence. Considering this is not actually a successful crime but an attempt at a crime it truly is unlikely he will get 30 years. To give you a better answer I'd need to research the former cases and leniency of the Muskogee Trial Courts (or wherever he's being tried). In some states a defense to an attempt crime is that you were not stopped by the police from doing your crime, but instead stopped because you decided you were not going to commit this crime anymore. If that is not an available defense he'll likely get the can for a little while.
5 years sounds like a slightly harsh judgment for these facts, however some judges are very prosecution friendly.
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