Former Los Angeles city councilman Mitch Englander is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 25 for his role in a public corruption scandal. But federal prosecutors say the sentencing recommended by probation officials — three years’ probation and a $9,500 fine — is too lenient. They want him to go to jail.
“Such a mild sentence, prosecutors said, would represent a ‘two-tier system of justice,’ showing that white-collar defendants receive more lenient treatment than other criminals,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Federal prosecutors have asked that he receive 24 months’ imprisonment, 300 hours of community service and a $45,000 fine — three times the amount he received in casino bathrooms in Las Vegas and near Palm Springs.”
Prosecutors say Englander accepted envelopes of cash from a real estate developer and then lied to the FBI to obstruct its investigation. Englander pleaded guilty to one count of scheming to falsify material facts.
Read more about his upcoming sentencing here.