Woman Seeks To Withdraw Plea In Her “Iran Plot Case”
Talk about a cluster fuck ….
Background: USA Today
Enemies securing U.S. night-vision gear
WASHINGTON — Thefts and illegal exports of advanced military night-vision gear are rising sharply and U.S. officials say some of the equipment has reached enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq, where it could erode the advantage U.S. troops have in after-dark combat.
Continued reading at USA Today
Now - to the Iranian bitch in florida…
Background:
Sentencing Law And Policy
Shahrazad Mir Gholikhan, an Iranian woman accused of trying to export night vision goggles, thought her guilty plea last month would be her ticket back to her family. The federal prosecutor had recommended a term of time served for the 30-year-old mother’s role in the illegal plot to trade with Iran, a U.S.-designated terrorist nation. U.S. District Judge James Cohn imposed the sentence at an April 25 hearing in Fort Lauderdale federal court.
But on Tuesday that smooth resolution unraveled. Determining the sentence had been a mistake, Cohn extended Gholikhan’s prison term from time served to two years and five months. Under the law, federal judges can amend sentences within seven business days that result from “arithmetic, technical, or other clear error.”
In Gholikhan’s case, prosecutor Michael Walleisa alerted Cohn last week that both sides had calculated Gholikhan’s recommended sentence using the wrong federal sentencing guideline. The correct sentencing range should have been 30 to 37 months, Walleisa said. He asserted in a legal brief that a sentence of time served was far too light a punishment for “a national security offense that involved trade with a state sponsor of terror.” “Her crime is serious and warrants an appropriately severe sentence,” Walleisa wrote.
William Barzee, Gholikhan’s attorney, called the resentencing unfair and un-American, saying after the hearing that his client feels like she’s back in Iran. “I don’t think it’s fair to [agree on a sentence] and have someone plead guilty and then come back and ask the court for a do-over,” Barzee said in court Tuesday.
Cohn agreed with Walleisa that the sentence should be recalculated using the correct guideline provision. He reduced the sentence from 30 months to 29 because Gholikhan spent one month in an Austrian prison on related charges….
Jonathan Rosenthal, a Fort Lauderdale defense lawyer who teaches sentencing at Nova Southeastern University, said he found a description of Gholikhan’s resentencing “troubling” because the guidelines are only one factor judges should consider. “I don’t understand how on Monday a sentence of four-and-a-half months is reasonable, but on Tuesday, all of a sudden, that sentence is no longer reasonable,” Rosenthal said. “Judges are not supposed to give guidelines any undue weight.”
For the Update on the situation:
Sun Sentinal
Fort Lauderdale: An Iranian woman who pleaded guilty to trying to illegally export military night vision goggles wants to withdraw her plea because she received faulty information about her sentence.
Shahrazad Mir Gholikhan, 30, was sentenced last month in Fort Lauderdale federal court to time served, or roughly four months. U.S. District Judge James Cohn later found her prison term had been miscalculated and increased the sentence to two-and-a-half years.
In an appeal filed Friday, Gholikhan said her guilty plea was based on representations her recommended sentence would be less than six months.
Gholikhan surrendered to U.S. authorities in December. If her guilty plea is overturned, she could face trial on charges related to an alleged plot to purchase night vision goggles for the government of Iran.
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GITMO! GITMO! GITMO! This is why when you’re at war, you have to say so and act accordingly. She is responsible for killing our guys and she’ll be mopin’ around the dirty streets of Tehran in her black bag before you know it. WTF.
May 20th, 2008 at 1:46 amShe really deserves a rope. National security at a cost of only 30-37 months?? Fuck me…
May 20th, 2008 at 3:04 amPut a bullet thru the bitch—–lawyer fucktards burn in hell—-
May 20th, 2008 at 3:18 amIs she hawt?
Anyway, I know this will come as no shocker to anyone here but what courts decide and the final outcome seldom has anything to do with justice or the truth.
Sounds like she got offered up some gravy (sign this and its time served) then got shafted after the fact with some extra time.
I think the lot of them should get in some shit for trying to get the NVG’s, but some of that blame has to rest on the companies providing the stuff. I mean if an Akmed or Mohamed wants to by 10′000 units of your products you should see more to it than a ringing cash register.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:06 amWhy is this woman still breathing our air
As for her lawyer, maybe he should go and practice in Iran - perhaps he would like his lot in life a bit more.
Reminds me of an old joke… What do you call 300 lawyers at the bottom of a lake??? A GOOD START!! 
May 20th, 2008 at 6:09 amYet another example of the corporate greed that is so pervasive today. It’s really sad the way American corporations are so willing to make a buck at the expense of the national security and the American people. The almighty dollar seems to be the god that is worshiped above all else. And I work for a major corporation that is publicly traded on the NYSE, so I am definitely not some leftist anti-corporation nutjob. Profits should never come before security but unfortunately they seem to these days.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:43 amOne Shot and 83Delta have said it all.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:21 am