It looks like U.S. District Judge Frederick Martone had some reasons for sparing former state Representative Ben Arredondo from prison on his felony mail-fraud convictions.
For one, Martone wouldn't really peg Arredondo as the kind of guy who would use the entrails of hookers as decorations.
See also:
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-Ben Arredondo Pleads Guilty; Plea Reveals He Also Ran a Bit of a Scholarship Scam
"It's cheap. It's tawdry. It's pathetic," Martone said of Arredondo, according to a report from the Associated Press. "But this is not Jack the Ripper."
Nope, Arredondo was just charged with bribery, extortion, and lying to FBI agents in a ticket-bribery exchange, and also admitted to running a scholarship scam.
According to an Arizona Republic report, here's what else Martone had to say:
"I wonder whether the resources of the United States government were appropriately directed over the course of two years," he said, adding that perhaps Americans would have benefited more from the Justice Department offering the same level of attention to "Wall Street bankers ... (who committed) mortgage fraud."
Indeed, it seemed a little cheap that after two-years, the FBI only found out that Arredondo got about $6,000 worth of tickets to ballgames.
However, Arredondo was still a corrupt public official, so sparing him prison time -- even though federal prosecutors had recommended somewhere in the neighborhood of three years in prison -- doesn't exactly send the best sign to the public.
But, now you know why Arredondo's being grounded at home for 18 months instead of doing prison time.
