Josh Hawley questions Biden’s judicial nominee over leniency towards client in child pornography case.
Senator Josh Hawley Grills Biden Judicial Nominee Over Light Sentence in Child Pornography Case
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) engaged in a fiery exchange with public defender Richard Federico during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. The hearing focused on Federico’s prior trial, in which he had requested a lenient sentence for a defendant involved in a child pornography case.
President Biden had nominated Federico, a U.S. Navy Reserve officer and federal public defender from Kansas, for a position on Denver’s 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, Hawley had concerns about Federico’s track record.
WATCH:
A Biden judicial nominee is seeking a lifetime appointment to the bench but can’t answer why he was way more lenient than the federal government in sentencing a man guilty of child porn distribution.
“Do you think that that’s a sentence that does justice to his victims?” pic.twitter.com/wI12YY13pE
— Senator Hawley Press Office (@SenHawleyPress) September 6, 2023
Hawley began by presenting the details of the case, highlighting that the sentencing guidelines recommended a prison term of up to 240 months (20 years). Federico, however, had requested a significantly lighter sentence of just 105 months.
Hawley pointed out that the government had considered its recommended sentence of 189 months to be lenient. He emphasized the severity of the crime but refrained from discussing its explicit details, deeming them too reprehensible.
Federico defended his position, stating that he had prosecuted as many child pornography cases as he had defended. He claimed to understand the suffering of the victims involved.
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Hawley then confronted Federico with the disturbing contents of the pre-sentence report, which detailed the defendant’s involvement in child rape, bondage, and sexual exploitation. Hawley questioned why Federico had recommended a sentence of only 100 months, suggesting that he could have chosen a higher number, such as 175 or even agreed with the government’s lenient recommendation of 189 months.
Highlighting the significant disparity between Federico’s recommendation and the severity of the crimes committed, Hawley asked, “Do you think that that’s a sentence that does justice to his victims?”
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