Judge Rejects Prosecutors' Request for Long Imprisonment

While prosecutors sought 17+ year term of imprisonment with a fine of less than $250,000, a New York federal district court judge sentenced a former UBS employee to a term of 18 months with a fine of $1m. The employee, along with others who received similar sentences, were found guilty by a New York jury of defrauding municipalities of millions of dollars in bond deals. The blog Sentencing Law and Policy had this to say:

I am especially eager to praise Judge Wood for using big financial penalties — which make the government money and seem especially fitting for crimes of greed — while refusing to use big imprisonment terms — which cost the government money and seem unlikely to impact public safety for non-violent white-collar criminals.

(See this WSJ article for more on the case.)