By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from St. Louis in which a federal judge imposed a sentence well outside the prison term recommended by federal guidelines.
The case involves Mario Claiborne, who faced the recommended 37-46 months in prison on a cocaine conviction in 2005. The federal judge took nearly two years off the prison term.
She said even the minimum recommended sentence was too severe for someone without a prior criminal record.
The Justice Department appealed, and a federal appeals court in St. Louis agreed with prosecutors that the proposed 15-month prison term was too lenient.
The Supreme Court likely will hear the case next spring.