US appeals 4 1/2-year sentence of powerful ex-Pa. state Sen. Fumo, ex-aide in corruption case

Feds appeal sentence of powerful ex-Pa. Sen. Fumo

PHILADELPHIA — U.S. prosecutors took the rare step Thursday to appeal the sentence handed down to long-powerful state Sen. Vincent Fumo in a sprawling corruption case.

Fumo is serving a 4½-year sentence for defrauding the state Senate, a museum and a nonprofit of millions.

Prosecutors had sought at least a 15-year term for the Philadelphia Democrat, who was convicted last year of all 137 fraud and obstruction counts after a five-month trial. In an appeal filed Thursday, they call Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter’s decision “unreasonable” and “unduly lenient.”

The 67-year-old Fumo was convicted last year of using the victim groups to maintain his mansion, spy on political rivals, pay for yachting vacations and otherwise support his extravagant lifestyle.

“The corruption exposed in this case was breathtaking,” prosecutors wrote in filing the 281-page brief. “Defendant Fumo, a 30-year member of the Pennsylvania Senate, used his control of a well-funded Senate committee and of a nonprofit organization he created and supported (Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods), as well as his influence over another nonprofit institution, to support a lavish lifestyle and illegally amass political power.”

Fumo’s appellate lawyer, Peter Goldberger, said Fumo would pursue an appeal to his conviction since the government is appealing the sentence.

“We were ready to accept the conviction if they would accept the sentence,” he said.

Prosecutors also appealed the one-year term Buckwalter gave to ex-Fumo aide Ruth Arnao.

The sentences were a fraction of the federal guidelines, which are based on the crimes and the defendant’s criminal history. Prosecutors calculated that Fumo faced up to 21 to 27 years in prison, and Arnao, convicted of 45 counts, up to 10 to 12 years in prison. They also argued that Fumo’s fraud topped $4 million, twice the fraud total assessed by the judge.

In their brief, they also said Buckwalter failed to explain how he calculated the fraud total or sentencing range.

The sentence provoked a firestorm in Philadelphia, where Fumo was perhaps the most powerful Pennsylvania lawmaker in a generation, controlling scores of jobs in and out of state government.

At sentencing in July, Buckwalter praised Fumo for his “extraordinary” public service and called co-defendant Ruth Arnao “remarkable” for moving from teen mother to Fumo top aide.

By comparison, U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. once called the conspiracy to destroy e-mail evidence in the case “egregious” and sentenced a low-level Fumo aide to 30 months for far fewer crimes than Arnao.

At Arnao’s sentencing, Buckwalter disclosed that he had expected the uproar over Fumo’s sentence a week earlier.

“I wasn’t the least bit surprised. I knew it would be a tremendous firestorm of reaction against what I did,” said the 74-year-old Buckwalter, who said he tries to live by the 19th-century virtues of “rugged individualism” and “antique courage.”

He called his decisions “fair, not punitive” and questioned the notion of deterrence.

“There’s been a whole lineup of Philadelphia politicians that have gone to jail, and it doesn’t seem to deter crime,” the judge said.