[DissentDoe]

On Tuesday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the government's appeal of Pom's sentence. The government is asking the appellate court to vacate and remand the case for re-sentencing, claiming that the judge abused her discretion in only sentencing Pom to 17 days time served.  The government is not challenging the supervised release part of the sentence or the restitution part -- just the 17 days time served part. 

I wrote up some of the background and what happened during the hearing on my blog at https://databreaches.net/2024/11/01/four...mpompurin/,  but tl;dr version is that the panel of judges did not seem impressed with Pom lawyer's attempt to get them to just affirm the sentencing.  We'll have to wait to see how they actually rule, but if they do vacate and remand, Pom may get a sentence that includes actual prison time that is more commensurate with the seriousness of the crimes.

[sentap]

here’s the scoop: The Fourth Circuit judges weren’t buyin' what Pom’s lawyer was sellin’. Seems like they’re leanin' towards throwin’ that 17-day “time served” right out the window. The government’s argument is that a slap on the wrist doesn’t fit the crime, given the serious nature of those cyber offenses. So if they send it back for re-sentencing, Pom might be lookin' at some real jail time.
Now, from a legal perspective, the judge in the original trial might’ve had her reasons, maybe takin' into account Pom's cooperation or other factors, but appeals courts don't mess around if they feel there’s been an “abuse of discretion.” It’s kinda like they’re sayin’, “Hey, this is bigger than just a time-served deal.”

if the appeals court has its way, Pom’s lawyer’s gonna have to pull out some next-level arguments to keep their client from doin' a longer stint in the slammer.

[McHuggy]

Probably for the good, he doesn't look like he'd last in prison.