Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Smiley Requests Leniency; Sentencing Postponed

The Yale Daily News reports that E. Forbes Smiley's sentencing on state charges in the map thefts case has been postponed until October 13. "Officials from the New Haven Superior Court Clerk's Office said they were not aware of the reason for the delay." His federal sentencing date is currently scheduled for September 27.

In other news, Smiley has requested leniency in sentencing on the heels of a British Library request for a longer prison sentence than prosecutors have agreed to accept. Kim Martineau of the Hartford Courant writes that Smiley's attorney "argued in legal papers Tuesday that the judge should take into account his broad cooperation and years of volunteer work at soup kitchens and homeless shelters. He asked US District Judge Janet Arterton for no more than three years in prison at his sentencing next week."

Meanwhile, Smiley has - within the last few weeks - miraculously "remembered" two more maps that he stole, "throw[ing] fuel on the libraries' fears that he has more secrets to share." I'll say it certainly does that!

Robert Goldman, representing the BL, said of Smiley's argument that his cooperation should be taken into account "It's like asking us to thank the murderer who dismembered the body then returned the body parts."