U.S. v J.R.
Potential Sentence: 37-46 Months
Actual Sentence: Probation + Home Confinement
The defendant was a decorated combat veteran who became a military contractor in Afghanistan. He was charged with taking bribes. The truth of this story is that a man must be judged by his entire life’s work, not just his lowest moment. Here, the client’s life has been, from the earliest age, devoted to SERVICE. Service to his family. To his country. To the government. The crime he engaged in was a marked deviation from an otherwise exemplary life. It occurred at time where he was uprooted and in a state of psychological turmoil that war inevitably brings. He lost his “true north”, but only temporarily. Since the crime, he has done everything he could to right his wrongs. The sentencing judge stated that she was prepared to send him to prison, but after seeing the video, she found herself asking how she could explain to her own mother why this man deserved to be sent to prison. Finding no good explanation, she sentenced him to probation.