Katrina looters get 15 years

[Sarutama]

Katrina looters get 15 years in prison<br><br>Thursday, June 29, 2006; Posted: 1:47 a.m. EDT (05:47 GMT)<br><br><br>KENNER, Louisiana (AP) -- Three people convicted of hauling away liquor, wine and beer from a grocery store after Hurricane Katrina were sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison.<br><br>The judge said he wanted to send a message that looting would not be tolerated when he gave the maximum sentence to Coralnelle Little, 36, Rhonda McGowen, 42, and Paul C. Pearson, 36, all of Kenner.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>A jury convicted the trio May 2 on a portion of the state's looting law that took effect two weeks before the Aug. 29 storm. The amended law set a three-year minimum sentence, and a maximum of 15 years in prison, for looting during a declared state of emergency.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>They were convicted of attempting to leave the grocery with 27 bottles of liquor and wine, six cases of beer and one case of wine coolers, six days after Katrina made landfall.<br><br>Little, McGowen and Pearson each testified that they were not looting, but they offered conflicting accounts of matters such as who drove to the store.<br><br>Pearson's attorney, Bruce Netterville, said the sentence and conviction would be appealed.<br><br>"We believe the sentence is excessive," said Netterville.<br><br>Attorneys for the other defendants agreed.<br><br><br><br>Interesting timing, no? <p></p><i></i>

[StarmanSkye]

Aieieieiei ...<br><br>HOW is this supposed to send a 'message'??<br><br>I'd suppose not even 10 percent of the 'public' will even hear about this sentence -- and of that, how many will remember it or think it has anything to do with them in the .00000009 percent chance they're ever in a similiar situation where law and order breaks down.<br><br>Meanwhile, the fat-cat bureaucrats, politicos and disaster-profiteers who dropped the ball, failed to protect New Orleans, or made a bundle off of Katrina are absolved of doing anything contrary to the public's interest.<br><br>In-fucking-credible. (But sadly, in today's plunder-rich America where 'justice' is a class-issue), not untypical.)<br><br>A FAR more appropriate sentence might have been community service, ie., some practical, useful purpose served -- like helping volunteers clean and rebuild neighborhoods STILL devastated.<br><br>AND:<br><br>Where's the accountability for Jail officials who left prisoners to drown in their cells? (For instance -- there's no shortage of examples of criminal misfeasance and negligence, etc.)<br><br>Of the many thousands of crimes committed in New Orleans in the weeks following Katrina, petty-theft ought to rank pretty damn low -- IF there's any sense of perspective.<br><br>Welcome to the Brave New World alright ...<br>Starman <p></p><i></i>