Attorney: Buncich sentence of 15-20 years ‘outrageous’
Defense attorney
"The sentence requested by the government is outrageous in its length and severity," Truitt wrote.
Truitt said based on Buncich's age, a 60-month proposed sentence would represent almost half of the former sheriff's anticipated remaining life.
Truitt said
"A sentence that the government argues for, based on its calculation of the guidelines, in this case would be a life sentence," Truitt wrote.
Benson, in a sentence memorandum filed Sunday, argued a higher sentence is warranted because of the nature of Buncich's offenses and raised other issues that should affect the length of a prison term.
"The damage caused by Buncich's conscience (sic) disregard and abandonment of the trust placed in him by the citizens of
The
Truitt, in the sentencing memorandum, said the former sheriff maintains his innocence.
"Buncich recognizes and appreciates that for the purposes of sentencing the court must accept the verdicts of the jury," Truitt wrote. "At the same time, he adamantly and resolutely maintains his innocence. Buncich will speak further at sentencing, but he knows in his heart that he did not sell his office or defraud the citizens of
A jury convicted Buncich of bribery, wire fraud and honest services wire fraud in August after 14 days of testimony.
Buncich, former Chief
Downs pleaded guilty in
"Not once did he (Buncich) ever ask for money," Truitt wrote. "
Buncich never sought anything from the tow operators, Truitt said in court filings, and the former sheriff was not involved in any "scheming conversations." Truitt said Buncich was doing legitimate campaign fundraising.
"Buncich is simply guilty of what every politician is guilty of," Truitt wrote.
Truitt said a 15- to 20-year sentence would be extreme and other
--
--Former
--Former Calumet Township Trustee
--Former East Chicago Controller Edwaurdo Maldonado was sentenced to more than eight years for stealing
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--Former County Clerk and Coroner
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--Former
Benson, in his sentencing memorandum, said Buncich posed a flight risk based on the severity of the sentence and that his law enforcement training could realistically make it easy for him to flee undetected.
Benson asked the judge to immediately remand Buncich into custody at his
Buncich, through Facebook, has been in contact with
Kollintzas, a former
"Buncich is not comparable to
Kollintzas had dual citizenship with
"It is nearly impossible to hide oneself in today's world of ATMs, EasyPasses, cellphones, GPS ... etc," Truitt said.
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