[Industrialblog,
January 26, 2007]
And now, cowards
NEWARK, N.J. — Murderous cowards Joseph T. LePore and Sean Ryan were sentenced today to five years in prison today after starting a deadly dormitory fire of Seton Hall seven years ago. The fire claimed the lives of three students and injured 58 others.
LePore and Ryan denied culpability for years, and engaged in a conspiracy to cover up the crime. LePore also attempted to run down an officer when he was initially arrested in 2003, and conspired with his family to cover up his own involvement.
The two pled guilty to arson. The state Department of Corrections will determined where the two will fulfill their sentence, which could range from a facility for juvenile offenders to any of the state's adult facilities. The two will be eligible for parole in 16 months.
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Obviously, justice is not served here. Five years is too light a sentence for the seriousness of the crime. They lit the fire as part of a "prank," but they fled the flames without warning others, and they told nothing to police about their involvement. The state spent untold millions to try to determine the fire's cause. The efforts included building a replica of the dorm that fire investigators used to study the pattern of flames through the dorm. The victims and their families were left to guess at what happened, for years.
My recommendation is the two serve their sentence here.
East Jersey State Prison is formerly known as Rahway state prison, where the movie Scared Straight was filmed.
I mentioned my choice to a co-worker, and he reacted quickly.
"I'm not thrilled with the idea of extra-judicial punishment," he said. "If the judge wants to sentence a defendant to be sodomized, the judge should formally include the abuse in the sentence. 'I hereby sentence you to be sodomized by strangers 138 times over a six-month period.' Next case."
Despite the light sentence, LePore and Ryan will live in infamy as killers who did everything they could to weasel out of justice, and as the biggest assholes ever to go to Seton Hall.
LePore and Ryan denied culpability for years, and engaged in a conspiracy to cover up the crime. LePore also attempted to run down an officer when he was initially arrested in 2003, and conspired with his family to cover up his own involvement.
The two pled guilty to arson. The state Department of Corrections will determined where the two will fulfill their sentence, which could range from a facility for juvenile offenders to any of the state's adult facilities. The two will be eligible for parole in 16 months.
-30-
Obviously, justice is not served here. Five years is too light a sentence for the seriousness of the crime. They lit the fire as part of a "prank," but they fled the flames without warning others, and they told nothing to police about their involvement. The state spent untold millions to try to determine the fire's cause. The efforts included building a replica of the dorm that fire investigators used to study the pattern of flames through the dorm. The victims and their families were left to guess at what happened, for years.
My recommendation is the two serve their sentence here.
East Jersey State Prison is formerly known as Rahway state prison, where the movie Scared Straight was filmed.
I mentioned my choice to a co-worker, and he reacted quickly.
"I'm not thrilled with the idea of extra-judicial punishment," he said. "If the judge wants to sentence a defendant to be sodomized, the judge should formally include the abuse in the sentence. 'I hereby sentence you to be sodomized by strangers 138 times over a six-month period.' Next case."
Despite the light sentence, LePore and Ryan will live in infamy as killers who did everything they could to weasel out of justice, and as the biggest assholes ever to go to Seton Hall.
As you recall there are many many assholes and convicts who went to Seton Hall. There is Robert Brennan, who was found liable for securities fraud in 1994, declared bankruptcy to shield him from paying out the $75 million judgement, but neglected to tell the bankruptcy judge about an additional $16 million in assets...oops. He is serving 10 years. The athletic center was named in his honor due to his donations. The board of regents voted in 2002 to remove Brennan's name. Richie Regan's name now adorns the building.
Then there was Dennis Kozlowski, who is a former CEO of Tyco, who was convicted of misappropriating $400 million of the company's funds. Kozlowski's case came to symbolize corporate greed and corruption, with tales of lavish company spending, including a $2 million birthday party for his wife in Sardinia and a $6,000 shower curtain for his New York apartment. Kozlowski Hall opened in 1997 and houses the Stillman School of Business, the College of Education and Human Services and the psychology department, along with a center for public service. The six-story building includes more than 30 teaching rooms, including an auditorium that seats 390, where the Tyco chief delivered a lecture in 2001 on the importance of integrity.
Walsh library is named after Frank Walsh Jr, a former Tyco board member who pleaded guilty to securities fraud in 2002. Walsh, 64, resigned as chairman of Seton Hall's board of regents in December 2002, the same month he agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle criminal and civil charges in connection with Tyco's acquisition of CIT Group Inc., a New York-based financial services company.
Seton Hall is starting to remind me of The University of Miami, Virginia Tech, The State of Georgia and the continent of Australia.....you know.... all peopled by criminals.