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Inmate asks court for correction of sentence
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Posted on Dec 21 2004
An inmate serving time in federal prison in Lompoc, California has asked the U.S. District Court on Saipan to set aside the 88-month imprisonment sentence it had imposed on him in connection with a drug case.
In a civil action, Lawrence M. Fleming said recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a defendant convicted on drug charges be afforded a fact-finding by the jury as to the quantity of drugs involved.
Fleming, through lawyer Timothy H. Bellas, said the appellate courts’ rulings are of constitutional significance that would entitle him to a correction of his sentence.
The suit, which named the warden of the Lompoc correctional facility as defendant, said the 88-month prison term meted out against Fleming was based on the pre-sentence investigation report that determined his offense level on the basis that the amount of drugs involved in his offense was “five grams but less than 20 grams.”
A jury convicted Fleming of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly referred to as “ice.”
Before his conviction, another set of jurors acquitted Fleming on a charge of possession of three grams of ice, but was undecided on the conspiracy charge. Saipan’s federal court sentenced Fleming to 88 months imprisonment on Jan. 6, 2003.
Bellas also asked the court to appoint him as counsel, citing that Fleming’s financial condition has not changed significantly from the time of trial, when he was determined to be qualified for a court-appointed counsel.
