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Thursday, September 02, 2004

Indiana Decisions - Stories today from SD Indiana, Evansville

Two stories today in the Evansville Courier&Press by Maureen Hayden, reporting from the federal district court in Evansville.

"Prisoner released early" is the headline to this story. Some quotes:

After spending more than two years in jail waiting for his day in court, a 24-year-old Evansville man charged in a federal drug conspiracy was released from custody Wednesday.

Timothy J. Wright, who pleaded guilty to a federal drug-trafficking charge in August, faced a prison term of up to 10 years. But he was released by U.S. District Judge Richard Young, who departed from the sentencing guidelines that spell out the punishment in federal cases. * * *

In August, Wright signed a plea agreement that allowed him to plead guilty to a single drug-trafficking charge in exchange for a recommendation of leniency by prosecutors. That recommendation came Wednesday in court, when Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Brookman filed a sealed motion indicating Wright had provided "substantial assistance" in what Brookman described as an ongoing investigation of illegal drug trafficking in Southern Indiana.

Brookman recommended Young depart from the guidelines and sentence Wright at a lower level, but still facing some prison time.

Instead, Young departed far enough from the guidelines to give Wright a 27-month prison term. Given that Wright had exceeded that time by more than a month, Young ordered Wright to be released immediately. Young noted that Wright's remorse and how Wright chose to spend his time in jail played a role in that decision.

"Former Whirlpool supervisor loses sexual harassment case," is the headline to this story that begins:
A former Whirlpool production supervisor who sued the company for sexual harassment lost her case in federal court Wednesday, after company officials testified she was the harasser. Tanda L. Ling of Henderson, Ky., claimed Whirlpool officials failed to respond to her reports of sexual harassment and then fired her in retaliation for making the complaint.

But a jury in U.S. District Court in Evansville took about 90 minutes in deliberation to decide Ling didn't have a valid claim. * * *

For what counties are in what division of the southern district, see this explanation on the court's website titled "Organization of Divisions in the Southern District of Indiana".)

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 2, 2004 08:59 AM
Posted to Indiana Decisions