Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Drabinsky sentencing

Ignoring the Madoff elephant in the room -- and we don't do silly sentences in Canada but there may be an upward effect from Madoff's 150 years -- I predict a sentence of 60 months. With early release that gets Drabinsky into a halfway house in a year.





Defence lawyers ask for minimum sentence for Livent's Garth Drabinsky



TORONTO — Garth Drabinsky's defence is asking a Toronto court for a lenient sentence for the 60-year-old theatre impresario, who along with his partner was convicted of cooking Livent's books.



Defence lawyer Edward Greenspan has been reading excerpts from more than 40 letters of character from friends, family and theatre professionals to draw attention to Drabinsky's successful past.



Greenspan says a sentencing hearing is the one time when a person's good deeds should weigh heavily on the case's outcome.



The defence says Drabinsky's post-polio symptoms also have a "genuine impact" on where he serves his sentence.



The Crown is recommending a sentence of eight to 10 years for both Drabinsky and his Livent partner, Myron Gottlieb, and is calling the case an "enormous fraud."



In its sentencing argument, the Crown said neither man had shown any remorse during their trial on fraud and forgery charges.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What's brilliant about this post is that the statement "we don't do silly sentences in Canada" is completely demolished by the subsequent prediction that Drabinsky will be "in a halfway house in a year" - and yet you think the two are perfectly compatible.