by KYW's Tony Hanson
Sentencing day is fast approaching for convicted former Pennsylvania state senator Vince Fumo. He's scheduled to be sentenced next week, but this week will be busy with legal action related to post trial motions and a hearing Wednesday on a pre-sentence report prepared by the probation department.
Fumo was convicted in March of all 137 counts against him, counts including fraud, obstruction and tax evasion (see related story). With sentencing now looming, the stakes are of course high.
A pre-sentence report includes a recommended federal guideline sentence of 21 to 27 years in prison.. The defense has challenged various aspects of the probation department's pre-sentence report, including the recommended guideline sentence itself.
Just last week it filed a motion for a new trial, claiming it has newly discovered evidence that during the course of the trial jurors were exposed to highly prejudicial, extraneous information regarding the case.
Earlier related motions were rejected by the judge, as was a defense motion to delay trial.
The government argued against the delay, saying justice delayed in this case is simply justice denied.
(File photo)
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