It's been a long legal road in the job-rigging trial that ended with an 18-month sentence for former Probation Department Commissioner John O'Brien — a considerably lighter sentence than the nearly six years recommended by federal prosecutors last month.
During the final day of sentencing yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge William Young also handed down lighter-than-recommended sentences to O'Brien's former deputies, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III. Tavares was sentenced to three months, while Burke's sentence amounted to a year of probation.
"It's good that there's this ability to look beyond just the charge and the maximum penalty and really look at the case. I think that's what Judge Young did ... He considered [the defendants'] background, considered their long years in the public service and he went on the light side," said Karen Colucci, a senior attorney at Bellotti Law group and former Middlesex assistant district attorney.
In an interview with WGBH News, Colucci said the judge's ability to use his discretion when handing down sentences shows a promising side of federal sentencing guidelines.
"I think in a sense it's good that the federal sentencing guidelines give the judge the opportunity to just ... look deeper into the people standing before him," said Colucci.
The three were convicted of running a rigged hiring process in the Probation Department back in July.
You can listen to the full interview and post-sentencing analysis with Karen Colucci above.
