Attorney Gary Prolman was sentenced last week to 24 months in federal prison. The sentence was for laundering $177,000 in proceeds from a marijuana trafficking conspiracy. The money came from a guy named David Jones who was the head of the trafficking operation. Prolman took cash from Jones and invested it in his fledgling sports agency business, a real estate deal and another joint investment fund. In this earlier post, I linked documents detailing the allegations.
Gary Prolman was, and to many remains, a well respected attorney, sports agent and leader in the Southern Maine hockey community. His decisions and this case ruined his career and tarnished his otherwise enviable reputation. It’s a bitter pill to have to serve prison time on top of all that, and while a two year federal prison sentence may seem unfair, things could have been much worse.
The Prosecution’s Position
In the government’s sentencing memo, they noted that the guideline sentence, which would normally start at 46 months, could well go higher. By pleading guilty and coming clean about what they did, most people get a discount for “acceptance of responsibility.” But if a defendant pleads guilty without fully coping to the prosecutor’s version of what they did, they risk losing acceptance. You don’t want to be the guy who does a plea only to lose acceptance and Gary was almost that guy. As the prosecutor pointed out in their memo:
The Presentence Report (PSR) in this case establishes the Offense Level of 23, after applying a three level decrease for the defendant’s acceptance of responsibility. The resulting advisory guideline range is 46-57 months because defendant has no criminal history. As noted in the PSR, the Government believes that the Defendant’s Version of the Defense raises issues whether a reduction for acceptance of responsibility should be given. The Government has not yet finalized its position on the applicability of that reduction because the applicability of that reduction will be dependent on facts and arguments developed by the defendant at sentencing. If the court determines an acceptance of responsibility reduction is not appropriate, then the guideline range would be 63-78.
At the sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Perry apparently agreed to the acceptance deduction and asked for a sentence of 36 months, well below the guideline range.
The Defense Position
In their sentencing memo, Prolman’s defense attorneys compared Gary’s case to others connected with the trafficking conspiracy. Many of those defendants have already been sentenced:
It is believed all reflect sentences substantially below the specific Guideline ranges in spite of each defendant’s direct involvement in the sale, distribution and transportation of Mr. Jones’ marijuana. For instance, Amy Eagleston, who introduced David Jones to a marijuana supplier in California, and recruited others to distribute marijuana received a two (2) month term of imprisonment with 2 years supervised release. Id. Likewise, Raymond Paquette, a courier and distributor of substantial amounts of marijuana, was sentenced to a six (6) month term of imprisonment with three (3) years supervised release. Id. Also noteworthy, is the recent sentence of Michael Bretzing who supplied David Jones in 2012 and 2013 with more than 770 pounds of marijuana. He was sentenced to 24 months and four (4) years supervised release. In light of the sentences given to those directly implicated in Mr. Jones’ illegal schemes, it is respectfully submitted that a sentence of 46-57 months is simply disproportionate and unjust
They do raise a good point, despite driving me crazy by writing the number “(2)” after the word “two.” The defense also noted this striking irony: if Prolman had actually trafficked in $177,000 worth of marijuana, he would have got a much better sentence. At $3000 per pound, a number the prosecution used in related cases, $177,00 converts to about 27 kilos of weed. With a guilty plea and no criminal history, the federal sentencing guidelines would’ve put the sentence for trafficking in that amount at 12 to 18 months.
In the end, the defense recommended supervised release and perhaps home detention, but no time in prison.
The Sentence
After hearing the arguments, Judge Singal imposed the 24 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release. Polman was allowed to remain free on bail so he could self report to federal prison on January 14, 2015 at 2 PM. He has already forfeited the $177,000 to the government. There’s no parole in the federal system so Gary will have to serve that whole sentence minus about a 15% deduction for good behavior. In his plea agreement, Prolman waived his right to appeal any sentence below 46 months so the sentence will not be subject to further review.
As a wise man once said, and I’m paraphrasing here: The question for the federal defense attorney is not “how can I win?” but, “how can I keep this from getting worse.” Though two years is harsh, things could has been much worse and Prolman’s lawyers did a great job of keeping it from going there.
