Even with Noe connections differences in release versus conviction…
I noticed that the Toledo Blade today reported, Noe associate LaPointe freed from prison early and they were one of the few I noticed that even reported this information. Which is of course after the fact since the article states Timothy LaPointe was released last week after serving 90 days of the up to three year sentence he was given. Originally it was stated that LaPointe could have faced up to 15 years.
Several things bother me about this situation, we as society pay lots of attention when someone is charged and is convicted or pleads guilty, if you do a quick search on Timothy LaPointe there are numerous articles about the early stages of this, then when he is released early nothing until a week after he was released from prison. Noe or no Noe connection, a good majority of people who are sentenced to prison in do a very small part of the original sentence handed down. This leads to discussion as in this case it was stated the prosecution recommended probation, but that the Judge was “tough”. Maybe on paper but the reality is sometimes different. This is not to say that people should not be released early from jail but to point out that these sentences that seem “tough” at the time don’t end up that way. Paris Hilton is a perfect example of one of the rare times people noticed an early release. In a way Noe is like Paris Hilton, because of his notoriety the chances of him getting the same type of a break on an early release especially from a Federal Prison and even in an Ohio prison is less likely. I’d hazard a guess that when he is released it won’t be a small update in the newspaper a week after his release, there will be camera crews there to film.
There is a school of thought out there that Tom Noe took the brunt of the punishment when there were many people including some State elected officials who helped create the scenario that ended up being Coingate. Recently there has been a brief reflux of Noe in the News with announcement that Mark D. Lay was indicted for his involvement with a scandal with the BWC. While Lay was not connected to Noe, it is another situation where politics and political connections were part of the scenario that ended up resulting in criminal charges hence Noe being mentioned. Whether you think it’s most important that Lay was a Democrat or you think it’s most important that it’s stated in Ohio he donated mainly to Republicans, this will probably be the next “big” case that gets discussed but I don’t think it will reach the level of the Noe frenzy for many reasons, not because Lay is a Democrat but because the majority of those in office involved in the decisions when this took place aren’t there anymore. Then of course the obvious, unless this case drags out there is no state wide election for either side to try to avoid or take advantage of. Lay’s legal representation is already stating that Lay is being used as a scapegoat, so it will be interesting to see how that works this time around.
In the end? If Mark D. Lay is convicted, will he end up being one of those who only makes the front page splash until the jail doors close? That I’m sure will be the subject of many future posts here and elsewhere on the Ohio blogosphere and Timothy LaPointe is now out there somewhere trying to start over and probably glad that our attention seems to fade…
I didn’t see the article about Tim. Was this shock probation? I think that usually kicks in at about the 3 month mark.
June 19th, 2007 at 8:41 pmIt didn’t sound like it, it sounded like it was a special boot camp type program that he was put into and released from.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:12 pm