Post by bounce on Apr 26, 2006 12:32:20 GMT -8
WEDNESDAY, April 26, 2006, 11:24 a.m.
By Meg Jones
4 sentenced to jail for tire slashings
Tossing aside a plea agreement that called for probation, Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Michael Brennan sentenced four Democratic Party workers today to jail for slashing the tires of 25 vans rented by Republicans to take voters to polls for the 2004 presidential election.
Calling the vandalism more than harmless hijinks, Brennan admonished the four men, including the sons of two prominent Milwaukee politicians, for disenfranchising voters. The judge said he had received letters from Milwaukee County citizens upset over the crime.
"They see you tampering with something they consider sacred and that's the ballot box," Brennan said during a two-hour sentencing this morning.
Michael Pratt, 33, and Lewis Caldwell, 29, were each sentenced to six months in jail while Lavelle Mohammad, 36, got five months and Sowande Omokunde, 26, got four months. Each was also fined $1,000. They will be eligible for work release and were allowed to surrender to begin their sentences within two weeks.
Pratt is the son of former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt and Omokunde is the son of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.)
A plea deal was reached in January as a jury appeared deadlocked in a case that received national attention. Four of the five defendants agreed to plead no contest to misdemeanor charges instead of the original felony property damage counts. A fifth Kerry-Edwards staffer accused of crippling Republican vans, Justin Howell, 21, turned down the last-minute deal and was acquitted by the jury.
www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=4/26/2006&id=5299
By Meg Jones
4 sentenced to jail for tire slashings
Tossing aside a plea agreement that called for probation, Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Michael Brennan sentenced four Democratic Party workers today to jail for slashing the tires of 25 vans rented by Republicans to take voters to polls for the 2004 presidential election.
Calling the vandalism more than harmless hijinks, Brennan admonished the four men, including the sons of two prominent Milwaukee politicians, for disenfranchising voters. The judge said he had received letters from Milwaukee County citizens upset over the crime.
"They see you tampering with something they consider sacred and that's the ballot box," Brennan said during a two-hour sentencing this morning.
Michael Pratt, 33, and Lewis Caldwell, 29, were each sentenced to six months in jail while Lavelle Mohammad, 36, got five months and Sowande Omokunde, 26, got four months. Each was also fined $1,000. They will be eligible for work release and were allowed to surrender to begin their sentences within two weeks.
Pratt is the son of former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt and Omokunde is the son of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.)
A plea deal was reached in January as a jury appeared deadlocked in a case that received national attention. Four of the five defendants agreed to plead no contest to misdemeanor charges instead of the original felony property damage counts. A fifth Kerry-Edwards staffer accused of crippling Republican vans, Justin Howell, 21, turned down the last-minute deal and was acquitted by the jury.
www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=4/26/2006&id=5299
