By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Charging that he has been subjected to racist taunts while confined to a Michigan jail, a convicted pharmacist is asking a federal judge not to increase the eight year prison sentence he is serving for conviction on racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud charges.
In a 29-page filing today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., lawyers for Glenn A. Chin, 53, said the 17.5 year sentence proposed by federal prosecutors was not justified despite an appeals court ruling opening the door to a lengthier sentence.
The motion filed by Chin's lawyer James Sultan charged that Chin's role in the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak did not justify more than doubling his original sentence.
The sentencing of Chin and co-defendant Barry J. Cadden will be the subject of a July 7 hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns, whose sentencing ruling was questioned by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.
Chin's motion also challenges the appeals court ruling that called on Stearns to consider thousands of victims of the fungal meningitis as vulnerable victims, which would could make them eligible for $82 million in restitution.
"The patients were not unusally vulnerable," the brief states, adding that the prosecution failed to prove that any act by Chin caused the drugs to become contaminated with deadly fungi.
"The patients were not victims of Chin's conduct," the filing states.
Noting that Chin was transferred to Michign in December of 2019 from a federal prison in Pennsylvania where he was serving his eight year federal sentence," the filing states that Chin "has languished ever since."
Arguing that conditions in the Michigan jail are "far worse," the filing states Chin has "been subjected to racist taunts and threats" because of his Chinese heritage.
Nonetheless, the filing continues, "Chin has consistently followed the rules and has had no disciplinary infractions."
To back up that claim, an attachment to the filing includes a statement from a Livingston County Sheriff's office employee, Roy Asquith, stating that Chin had been involved in no incidents during his 506 days at the county jail and was "a very compliant inmate."
The filing disputes the prosecution claim that Chin was a major figure in what went on at the New England Compounding Center. Instead, Sultan wrote that Chin was a salaried employee who merely followed orders issued by Cadden.
"Cadden not only knew what was going on, he directed it," the filing states.
Concluding that Chin was destitute and will never be able to pay restitution, the filing concludes by stating that ordering millions of dollars in restitution would be a waste of time and "a long winding road to nowhere."
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Mine and others, from Chin’s lack of involvement has resulted in a lifetime of constant pain.
ReplyDeleteHe could have filed a complaint, he could have quit, he could have spoke out.
If your associate murders someone, and you know they did it. You stay silent, you are guilty, by knowing. It happens regularly in the courts.
So I ask why are you different, and oh ya prisons a not for your convenience, they are not to make you happy.
Let’s look at what you have done. I and others are reluctant to seek medical help due to your involvement in the blending. Seems kinda like terrorism to me.
Thanks to all, protect us from situations like this.
Set some examples.
Again how can a person in charge of quality not be responsible in someway for the quality of the product.