Young, Drunk, Driver, and Killer

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports this searing account of the sentencing of the St. Peters woman, 24, who killed her passenger, another young woman, and seriously injured a young male passenger in a drunk driving accident last year.  This is reporter Shane Anthony's story:

"St. Peters woman was ordered Monday into a four-month prison treatment program for a drunken-driving crash that killed her 24-year-old passenger.

Ashley P. Matthews, 24, of the 1100 block of Spencer Road, pleaded guilty in April of involuntary manslaughter and felony assault. She was driving a car on Highway 94 near Defiance on May 17, 2009, when she veered off the road, overcorrected and collided with an oncoming vehicle driven by David R. Mann of Augusta. Ashley Walker, 24, of St. Charles County, was thrown from the vehicle and died. Mann and Matthews both were injured.

Matthews refused a blood alcohol breath test. Investigators obtained a warrant to take her blood for tests, which revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.182 percent about an hour after the crash. Drivers are presumed drunk at 0.08 percent in Missouri.

St. Charles County Circuit Judge Nancy Schneider sentenced Matthews to a 120-day prison treatment program. If she completes the program, she could be placed on probation, if not, she could be sentenced to five years in prison.

Walker's family members spoke of their suffering since the crash.  'My heart is broken and has an emptiness that I imagine will never be filled again,' said Walker's mother, Debbie.

She asked Schneider to impose the maximum sentence, seven years in prison on each count and $10,000 in fines. Anything less would be an insult to her family and a slap on the wrist, Debbie Walker said. Ashley Walker's family members and friends filled one side of the courtroom gallery. Matthews' supporters filled the other. About a dozen people stood in the center aisle after all the seats were taken. There were few dry eyes.

Defense attorney Paul D'Agrosa said Matthews has been one of the most remorseful clients he has represented. She often cried in his office, he said, but not for selfish reasons. 'She cries for the friend that she killed and for the gentleman she injured in this accident,' he said. D'Agrosa said Matthews has received treatment for substance abuse. He also said Ashley Walker's blood-alcohol level was 0.212 percent. The roles could have been reversed, he said.

Assistant prosecutor John Bauer said the court should stop Matthews' pattern of behavior as evidenced by a minor-in-possession of alcohol charge from 2006 and a DWI arrest in 2009. Neither resulted in a conviction.

Matthews, who spoke briefly before she was sentenced, said she has wanted to apologize to Ashley Walker's family. 'I just want them to know that I am so sorry,' she said.

Schneider, who just began her 20th year on the bench, said she knew people on both sides of the courtroom would be upset no matter what she did. 'What I see here is an example of an all too common situation where young, irresponsible people engage in behavior that is so devastating to themselves and the community at large and certainly the families.'

Schneider said Matthews has a loving family and friends to support her, and she could still lead a positive, productive life."
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I go to an AA meeting at 5:30 six days a week.  During a comment a fellow AA said that on the first of every month he writes a check to the widow of the man he killed in a DWI accident.   These stories may be old for you, but for me they are a constant reminder that alcoholism is cunning, baffling, and powerful. Don't look away.  This may not be you, but it could be someone you love.

[The photo is not from the accidents discussed with in the post.]

No More Love, at Love's Truck Stops

The Arizona Republic is reporting that Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores, Inc. agreed to pay $70,000 to some of its Arizona cashiers who complained about sexual comments from customers including suggestive "hand touching."  According to the article, supervisors ignored cashier complaints. 

There will be no more love at Love's.  I can feel a country song coming on . . .I'll spare you.

"And Don't Let the Door Hit You In the Ass . . . "

A Wadsworth, Ohio resident was so nettlesome that his hometown prosecuted him for harassment and banned him from city limits.  Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) reporter, Michael Sangiacomo has the following tale of modern day banishment:

"Jeffrey Aberegg hasn't set foot in his former hometown in nearly two years and would have been arrested on sight if he had.

A Wadsworth Municipal judge ordered Aberegg on Sept. 26, 2008, not to go on Wadsworth property after ruling that he was a nuisance. But the judge's order went too far, Aberegg's lawyer argued to the 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals. The appeals court has not ruled on the request but it doesn't have to.   The city agrees that Aberegg must be re-sentenced. He still won't be allowed to enter Wadsworth governmental offices, but he will be allowed back into the city where he lived from 1988 to 2003.

'I have not been able to go to the parade in Wadsworth for years,' he said. 'I miss that. I'm a handyman and I get calls from people in Wadsworth to do work, but I have to turn them down. It will be good to be able to go back into the city when I want to. I want closure.'

The trouble started in 2001 when Aberegg was going though a difficult divorce and other problems, including thefts from his handyman business. Aberegg, 50, of Barberton, admits that he was a bit insistent when he repeatedly contacted the Wadsworth police and the law director to complain about inaction by police on his complaints against his ex-wife and others he believe wronged him.

He also filed numerous lawsuits against the city and others.

The city said the calls were 'bizarre and threatening on some occasions' and so frequent that they interfered with the city's office staff getting work done.  Law Director Page Schrock III ordered Aberegg to stop calling city offices and warned that he would be arrested for harassment if he called again.  Aberegg believes his letters of complaint to the FBI and the Ohio attorney general's office about the official inaction prompted the warning.

Schrock's office denies that.

Aberegg said he complied, mostly, after receiving the warning. But he admitted calling the city a few more times. Then, he left a message in 2008 at the law director's office demanding the city compensate him for losses he suffered because of a false arrest.

That's when the city carried out its threat.

Aberegg was arrested for telecommunications harassment in May 2008. A jury convicted him four months later in Wadsworth Municipal Court. Judge Stephen McIlvaine suspended a jail sentence but, as condition of probation, ordered Aberegg to stay away.   'For the next five years, [Aberegg is] not to be on any property owned or operated by the city of Wadsworth including, but not limited to, City Hall, transfer station, WCTV, sanitary, engineering, fire station, police station or city parks,'  the judge ordered. 'He shall not call any city of Wadsworth office.'

Aberegg's original lawyer did not bring up the unusual sentence in his appeal, but it came to the attention of the public defender's office in Columbus. They asked in January that the appeal be reopened, calling the sentence a 'miscarriage of justice because banishment is so far outside of the normal and appropriate community-controlled conditions. Banishment simply cannot be ignored on appeal.'

'The judge ordered that he cannot set foot on any property at all owned by the city of Wadsworth,'  said Spencer Cahoon of the Ohio public defender's office. 'My reading was that he was not to set foot in the city itself, since that would include the streets and sidewalks. If he did, he could have gone to prison.  He was banished from the city,' he added. 'We really don't do that in the criminal court system.'

Schrock said that was not the intent.   'The intent was that he not be in City Hall, the court or our offices,' Schrock said. 'But since the city owns the streets and sidewalks as well, he could not use them either.'

Schrock agrees that the sentence needs clarification. The re-sentencing date has not been set.

'Since the city does not object to the ruling,' Cahoon said, 'we expect the Municipal Court to hand down a proper sentence.'"
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I previously related the story of the client that I briefly represented who telephone harassed her estranged husband.  The lady, Carol Italianlastname, was diagnosed with a "borderline personality" disorder and was charged in multiple jurisdictions with "telephone harassment," of her ex- and others.  Her divorce attorney referred her to me to defend her in the pressing criminal case because I had developed a reputation for representing women with mental illness legacies.  I was able to obtain dismissal of the harassment charges against Carol based on the claim of marital privilege.  Carol subsequently refused to pay me to represent her in the city's appeal from the dismissal.  She hired new counsel, lost her appeal went to jail, sued me, and everyone else she ever encountered including the judges that presided over her cases.  After several years Carol's claims were dismissed and I've lost track of her. 

At some point in the "unfolding" of her illness Carol was deemed by the courts of OurState to have become a "vexatious litigator" and Carol was ordered to cease and desist filing lawsuits without prior permission of the courts.  Carol was not banished from her hoemtown or OurState.  We can all be relieved that banishment is reserved for use in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Hit and Run Judge, Guilty

Reporter Dan Rozek at the Chicago Sun Times has this report about a local Judge involved in a hit and run.  Judge Kenneth Popejory (pic) entered a guilty plea and he still hopes to hold onto his job.  Here's the story:

"A DuPage County judge charged in a hit-and-run crash with a parked car pleaded guilty to reckless driving today while making his first court appearance. After his guilty plea to the misdemeanor offense, Judge Kenneth Popejoy was fined $500 and sentenced to six months of conditional discharge, a type of non-reporting probation.

Popejoy declined to comment directly after the court appearance, but said in a written statement that he accepts 'full and complete responsibility for my actions. I deeply regret my conduct in this matter and intend to rededicate myself to the principles and values in my life that have brought me so many blessings,’  his statement said.

He declined to comment further because of a pending review of the crash by the state’s Judicial Inquiry Board, which has the power to discipline judges for their conduct. His attorney, however, said the June 29 crash might be a result of mechanical problems with the 2003 Jeep that Popejoy was driving when he allegedly struck a parked car in west suburban Glen Ellyn.

Popejoy, 59, didn’t stop to report the 8:30 p.m. collision but continued on to his Wheaton home, though witnesses quickly reported the crash to police, including providing the license number of the vehicle that Popejoy was driving.  Defense attorney John Donahue said police officers who arrived at the judge’s home within minutes of the crash determined he was not 'impaired or intoxicated by anything.’

The swift guilty plea is an acknowledgement by Popejoy that he 'erred in judgement’ by not reporting the crash himself, Donahue said.

'He’s just depressed about the fact that in this case, he made the wrong decision,’ Donahue said.

Popejoy has been on the bench since 1997 and faces a retention vote this fall to retain his seat. Reckless driving carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail."
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Wow, your county judge crashes into a parked car and drives off, and still thinks the local citizens should retain him as judge?  That's pretty optimistic. 

My guess is the Illinois disciplinary authorities may have a few thoughts about his license. 

Prosecutor, Put 'Em Away, License Be Damned

Martha Neil at the ABAJournal reports on the suspension of a former federal prosecutor who procrastinated away his law license by failing to obtain and maintain his continuing legal education credits.  If you suspect that issues with alcohol abuse underlie this professional and personal tragedy for David Folmar, you'd not be wrong.  This is the Salisbury (North Carolina) Post.com follow up report on Mr. Folmar's 2009 DUI:

The assistant U.S. attorney who continued to try cases after his state bar license had been suspended also was convicted in 2008 of driving while impaired.  Court records show that David P. Folmar Jr., who formerly worked for U.S. Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner of Salisbury, pleaded guilty last spring to driving while impaired the night of Dec. 24, 2007, in Kernersville.

He continued serving as an assistant U.S. attorney for the middle district of North Carolina until this March. In May, the Post reported that Wagoner had fired Folmar March 9 after learning he had been prosecuting federal cases in the middle district even though his N.C. bar license had been suspended in 2003.

Wagoner said Folmar's suspended status only came to her attention March 6 when her office received an e-mail from an employee at the N.C. State Bar.  She later confirmed that Folmar had not had an active state bar license since Nov. 14, 2003.

His license had been administratively suspended in 2003 for not complying with continuing legal education requirements.  Wagoner's office turned the matter over to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility, which reports to the U.S. attorney general.

The office investigates allegations of misconduct involving department attorneys. A spokesperson for OPR confirmed earlier that the office is looking into the Folmar case.  The DWI conviction was a separate matter, and Folmar ended up receiving a 30-day suspended sentence and had to pay a $100 fine and $120 in court costs.  A Forsyth County District Court judge also sentenced him to 24 hours of community service and ordered Folmar to receive out-patient substance-abuse counseling.

According to reports, police said Folmar had a blood-alcohol content the night of Dec. 24, 2007, of 0.22, almost three times the legal limit of 0.08.   He remained on Wagoner's staff of 23 assistant U.S. attorneys despite the DWI conviction and reportedly was disciplined in-house.  Wagoner informed Chief U.S. District Court Judge James A. Beaty Jr. on March 13 about Folmar's having tried cases while having a suspended license.

She said she had no reason to believe that Folmar's appearance before the court, though he had misrepresented himself as a licensed attorney, 'had any material effect on any case.'  In her letter to Beaty, Wagoner enclosed a list of pending cases before the court to which Folmar had been the assigned prosecutor, and she said other assistant U.S. attorneys would be taking over those cases.

Wagoner's office also compiled a list of closed cases Folmar had handled and furnished that list to the court and defense counsel from each of those cases. The N.C. State Bar says 'suspended' means the member is not currently eligible to practice law in North Carolina."
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Federal prosecutors are particularly professional and skilled attorneys.  Part of the reason the 2006 Bush Justice Department dismissals of US Attorneys caused such a hue and cry is that for the most part US Attorneys and federal prosecutors are known for competence.  For this sort of thing to happen is very unusual. The federal system has always been on the cutting edge of detecting and addressing alcohol and substance abuse issues.  I can imagine that Mr. Folmar's problems at this point are tremendously problematic, since as a federal employee his statements about his qualifications and credentials as a lawyer ,if false, were federal offenses. 

The other problem alluded to in the Post article:  lawyers handling legal matters are presumed to be qualified members of the bar.  Mr. Folmar was not, and each of those matters he handled for the US will get another look at some cost to the taxpayers. 

There's a College building at a major university in OurTown named after a local lawyer (known for representing a famous Basketball star who now plays for the Miami Heat) who has on occasion not maintained his CLE credits or timely paid his annual registration fee and sustained temporary suspensions, quickly recitified I might add by the lawyer who explained he was "too busy," or guilty of "a secretarial oversight."  It happens. 

Ron Plunkett Update--Guilty in Drug Death

Bad Lawyer previously relayed the sordid tale of Ann Arbor, former prosecutor and defense attorney Ron Plunkett's who's life descended into druggy hell.  Reporter Lee Higgins for AnnArbor.com is reports that Plunkett (pic) entered a guilty plea to charges relating to the provision of drugs that resulted in the death of his girl friend's girl friend in his bedroom:

"A former [Ann Arbor] defense attorney accused of paying for and transporting the heroin that caused the death of an Ypsilanti woman in 2006 pleaded guilty today to drug charges. Ronald James Plunkett, 53, pleaded guilty this afternoon in Washtenaw County Circuit Court to delivery of less than 50 grams of cocaine and maintaining a drug house.

He admitted to giving someone cocaine at his Fuller Court apartment on June 16, 2006 - the day 22-year-old Tiffany Gregory collapsed there and died after consuming a combination of alcohol, cocaine and heroin. Gregory was a medic in the Army National Guard and was scheduled to deploy to Iraq later that year.

'That day I allowed three people to come there and use drugs at [my] house,' Plunkett told Judge Melinda Morris.

Plunkett also admitted he allowed people to use drugs at his home before and after that date. Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, charges of delivery of heroin causing death and delivery of less than 50 grams of heroin will be dismissed.

Tracy Corson, 25, of Howell, who was Plunkett's girlfriend [according to the Michigan Supreme Court opinion reinstating his drug charges, a Livonia prostitute] at the time of the death, already served two years in prison in the case after pleading guilty to delivery of a controlled substance causing death.  Plunkett's case has been delayed numerous times due to legal challenges over the relatively new law allowing prosecutors to charge people with providing drugs that caused a death.

The Washtenaw County circuit judge and state appellate judges that reviewed the case determined there was not enough probable cause for Plunkett to stand trial. But the state Supreme Court reinstated felony drug delivery charges and refused to reconsider that decision earlier this year.

Plunkett faces a maximum of 23 months in prison[.]"

Do You Need a License When 80% of Your Professional Colleagues Are Prostitutes?

The Mercury News (for Silicon Valley) reports that 80% of the City of Belmont, California's massage therapists are prostitutes.  This is according to the local city attorney.  What's more, the schools for massage therapy are suspected of being "fronts" to legitimize prostitution. 

This is reporter Mike Rosenberg's story: 

"Four out of every five licensed massage therapists in Belmont 'graduated' from illegitimate schools that sometimes serve as fronts to allow sex workers to set up legal operations, city officials said Friday.  City Attorney Marc Zafferano recommended banning any new massage permits for one year, after an inventory of the city's 46 licensed massage technicians concluded 37 went to schools deemed suspect by a state watchdog agency.

The California Massage Therapy Council, a nonprofit group created by the state Legislature last year, recently investigated massage schools throughout the state and found 31 to be illegitimate, according to Zafferano. The city then checked its roster of approved massage therapists to see how many went to those schools.  n a memo to council members, Zafferano, citing the state agency, said the schools 'serve as a conduit for sex workers who then apply to set up illegitimate massage businesses in cities across the state.'

But Ahmos Netanel, CEO of the Sacramento-based therapy council, said he was 'baffled' by that classification. He said they put schools on the list for a variety of reasons, including getting caught selling diplomas and fabricating training time by approving hundreds of hours in a week, for example. Zafferano could not be reached Friday afternoon for a response to Netanel's comments.

Earlier Friday, Zafferano said the city previously had no reason to believe these schools — which offer 'convincing-looking diplomas' — could be shady. The city's annual permitting process includes education and training requirements, plus criminal background checks and a $150 renewal fee.

'They complied with all of those standards — or at least they apparently did,' Zafferano said.  Zafferano said technicians from schools on the list will not be able to renew their licenses unless they prove they have additional education. Police Lt. Pat Halleran said detectives will be contacting the suspected technicians regarding their permits and for potential criminal investigations.

'We're not trying to put legitimate people out of business but by the same token we want the illegitimate ones to stop, obviously,' Halleran said.  Halleran said investigations of massage parlors are labor intensive and, in recent years, police have suspended operations of a few for code violations but made no arrests.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider adopting an urgency ordinance to place a moratorium on any new massage practitioners for the following 45 days. The council would vote on Aug. 10 extend the ban through July 2011.  'I guess I was surprised that it was that blatant,' said City Councilman Dave Warden.

But Netanel said legitimate massage therapists could still circumvent the city licensing process by getting certified by his group, since state law gives his agency jurisdiction. None of the technicians who have recently applied went to legitimate schools, Zafferano said.  Susan Fleming, a Belmont-based massage therapist since 1992, said government needs to increase standards so legitimate workers will not be compared to prostitutes.

'I see that there's a big problem with the distinction between therapeutic body work and adult entertainment,' Fleming said. 'As much as we can try to separate the categories, the better off it is. It does bother me that the public isn't educated enough to know the difference sometimes.'

Schools on the list named on the therapy council's website include Yunique Wellness Center, Tammy Beauty Academy and USA Pain Care College.  It is unclear whether the problem is especially rampant in Belmont, where there are 10 massage parlors, or if the city is merely alone in researching its massage therapists. No other cities in San Mateo County have approved similar moratoriums in recent weeks. In San Mateo and Burlingame, at least, no inventories of those cities' massage parlors have been conducted, officials said."

San Mateo City Attorney Shawn Mason said the city is aware of the state list and can deny new permits to those whose only education is an illegitimate school. But for permit renewals, they do not reject those who graduated from the listed schools because they don't know whether the schools were legitimate at the time they attended.
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Persons in my former calling are often called "prostitutes," usually unfairly; although there are lawyers labeled as whores who insult prostitutes by comparison.  We have seen enough of this sort, here, on Bad Lawyer.

Olive Garden Blind Date

Here's a strange report from the "locals,"  a Fort Walton Beach, Florida man robbed his date in the parking lot of the local Olive Garden taking $90 from her, look, let's Mona Moore of the Panama City News-Herald tell you the rest of the story:
"A woman was robbed by a man she had contacted to meet her in the parking lot of the Olive Garden restaurant at 216 SW Miracle Strip Parkway, according to a media release from the Fort Walton Beach Police Department.

At about 2:11 p.m. Saturday, Jason Anthony Brown, 28, approached the 30-year-old woman’s vehicle in the restaurant lot. He got into the vehicle, brandished a gun and demanded money.

The woman said she gave Brown about $90 then he fled on foot. Officers canvassed the area before finding Brown exiting a condominium near the restaurant.  Brown admitted he had 'obtained' $50 from the woman and had since spent it on food from the Olive Garden. He was charged with armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon."
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When you have a craving for Italian, well you can understand, right?  Classy, date!

Uniquely Alaskan Justice in Child Porn Case?

The Anchorage Daily News had this remarkable account of the re-sentencing of former Anchorage police officer and child molester, Sammy Cohen:

Former Anchorage police officer Sammy Cohen (pic) will not serve any more jail time on his conviction for sexually abusing and exploiting his daughter.  State Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton on Thursday sentenced Cohen to 12 years in jail with eight suspended.

But Cohen will not return to jail because of the length of time he's already been incarcerated. Cohen's sentencing came five years after his arrest by police detectives on charges of sexually abusing his daughter and possessing child pornography. He was not convicted of touching his daughter sexually but rather of taking nude photographs of her, including some in which he made her pose.

Last October, a jury found Cohen, 56, guilty of abusing and exploiting his daughter a decade ago. She was 14 years old at the time. The jury based its findings mainly on topless and nude photos Cohen took of the girl that were obtained by police officers. The police began investigating Cohen after a federal agency alerted them that he had purchased child porn on the Internet.  Cohen has maintained his innocence on all the charges. He plans to appeal, his attorney John Cashion said Thursday.

Several young women, including his now-adult daughter who lives out of state, testified against Cohen during last fall's three-week trial. The other women said Cohen bought them gifts, gave them back rubs and did huge favors for them when they were underage or close to it; Cohen was not charged with abusing or exploiting them.

The jury acquitted him of several sex abuse charges -- one involving touching and groping his daughter. A juror explained later that the jurors felt comfortable convicting him on the evidence they saw in photographs, but not on counts for which they had to rely solely on the daughter's word about what happened.

The daughter and other family members did not attend Wednesday's sentencing hearing and the daughter did not file a victim statement. The affected family members 'want to put this behind them and want to have nothing to do with him anymore,' said state prosecutor John Skidmore.   Two off-duty police officers testified in Cohen's support, praising his strong work ethic and loyalty as a family friend. Also in the courtroom were other former co-workers: police detectives who investigated Cohen.

'They became intimate with the details of the case and wanted to see a full measure of justice done,' said police Lt. Dave Parker.

[Prosecutor] Skidmore argued in favor of a 20-year sentence with seven years suspended. He said the crime deserved a longer sentence than the norm given Cohen's role as a police officer.  Skidmore noted the high recidivism rate of sexual offenders who target children. Also, until Cohen admits his crime, his chances for rehabilitation are diminished, Skidmore said.

[Mr.] Cashion, Cohen's attorney, favored a sentence of two years in prison and three years of probation, saying that case law did not justify a longer sentence. He said that Cohen respects the judicial process and will follow his probation.

After a recess, Judge Wolverton imposed Cohen's 12-year sentence, with eight years suspended.  Wolverton told the courtroom that he specifically did not intend for Cohen to return to jail.  The judge said that while Cohen has a history of  'concerning behavior,' he believed that Cohen had  'very good prospects' as a probationer.
Cohen will not go to prison because he has already spent more than two-thirds of the four-year, unsuspended prison sentence in jail -- 1,024 days to be exact.  In Alaska, felons with good behavior do not need to serve the final third of their sentence, though they must return to jail to serve the remainder if they violate their probation.  Cohen spent a portion of that time in isolation due to his status as a former police officer and he was assaulted three times, once during transport, Cashion told the judge.

Cohen was an 11-year veteran of the Anchorage Police Department and was teaching at the police academy when he was arrested in 2005. He also served in the military for 23 years.  Cohen is now registered by the state as a sexual offender. Among the 18 conditions of his release, he must not contact the victim, he cannot have unsupervised contact with females under age 16 or have an e-mail account without his parole officer's permission, he cannot go to parks and playgrounds that minors use, and he and his property can be searched without a warrant for pornography, female minors or firearms.
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Wow!  Talk about getting a break, this guy was taking pornographic pictures of his daughter and her young friends.  Cohen was touching these children and they touched him.  Cohen spent less than 3 years incarcerated. 

Something about this story sounds Alaskan-specific.  That this guy did these acts and other officers were comfortable sitting in court in support, pretty amazing.

"Far Beyond the Heartland of Depravity"

The terrific and beautifully written Blawg, Simple Justice, has an excellent consideration of the 11th Circuit's opinion in the US v. Irey a particularly disturbing child pornography case that I came across at the Orlando Sentinel last week but didn't have Scott Greenfield's presence of mind to address. 

Greenfield's Criminal Defense Blog is always insightful and his discussion of the Irey decision finely dissects problems with the many facets of the crime, the harm, the sentencing and the politics of pedophilia and child pornography and particularly the computer viewing consumers of Irey's vile images.

By way of background, William Irey (mug shot), a construction company owner is serving a 171/2 year sentence as a consequence of child pornography he created as a sex-tourist in Cambodia.  The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held en banc (meaning the entire court, all the Judges, heard and signed on to the opinion) that the sentence was "unreasonably" short for the crimes committed by Irey which the Court described as "far beyond the heartland of depravity."  The Orlando Sentinel's coverage is at the link.