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Friday: Jury's Out
posted at 2008-04-04 13:15 | Last modified 2008-04-04 13:33
Closing arguments wrapped up this morning in the criminal trial of former state Rep. Thomas Wright. The jury retired about noon. They’re considering four charges of obtaining property under false pretenses – the three charitable contributions totaling $8900 from Astra-Zeneca, Anheuser Busch, and AT&T, plus the $150K mortgage loan from Southeastern Credit Union.
If the jury finds Wright guilty, sentencing would most likely proceed today, unless it’s too late in the afternoon.
The prosecution announced this morning that if Wright is found guilty, they’ll argue for aggravating circumstances, which would require an additional hearing and verdict from the jury. That, too, could happen later this afternoon, time permitting.
Potential sentencing:
Each of three lesser charges (the three charitable donations) carries a standard potential sentence of 6 to 8 months in prison - up to nine months each if the judge finds aggravating circumstances.
For the bigger charge, obtaining false property over $100,000 (the bank loan), the standard sentence is 5-6 years - up to 7 1/2 years with aggravating circumstances.
The jury broke for lunch at 1:00 – they’re due back at 2:00.More later...
