After being indicted three years ago and pleading guilty in October, former Erie City Council President Sonya Arrington was sentenced for fraud on Monday
Defense wanted probation or house arrest; U.S. Attorney s Office wanted guideline sentence for Arrington embezzling $70,000 from her anti-violence charity, defrauding Social Secuity of nearly $30,000
By adding day to Arrington s yearlong prison sentence, judge made her eligible for credit for good behavior while incarcerated; she will self-report to prison
Former City Council President Sonya Arrington said in court on Monday that she formed her nonprofit, Mothers Against Teen Violence, to help the Erie community.
A federal judge told her that her defrauding of that same charity ended up causing harm.
Her case languished for months in federal court in Erie until she pleaded guilty in October
Arrington was to be sentenced on Tuesday; new date is May 24
The federal fraud case against former Erie City Council President Sonya Arrington has been extended a little longer.
Three months longer.
Arrington s sentencing hearing, originally scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Erie, has been postponed until May 24, according to a two-sentence court order filed Friday evening.
The rescheduling occurred because Arrington requested to be present at the sentencing hearing rather than appearing via video conference, said her lawyer, Leonard Ambrose. He added that the family took time to decide, and that they ultimately felt it would be best for Arrington to be at the sentencing in person.
Sentencing postponed until May for Ex-Erie City Council President Arrington in fraud case
Updated Feb 20, 2021;
Three months longer.
Arrington’s sentencing hearing, originally scheduled for this coming Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Erie, has been postponed until May 24, according to a two-sentence court order filed late Friday evening.
The rescheduling occurred because Arrington requested to be present in person at the sentencing hearing rather than appearing via Zoom, said her lawyer, Leonard Ambrose.
Like judges nationwide, federal judges assigned Erie cases have been holding hearings and other proceedings virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Defendants are still allowed to have in-person hearings, a request that can lead to delays as judges rearrange their schedules.
The letters are included in a sentencing memorandum that Arrington s lawyer filed in the case, in which Arrington, 53, pleaded guilty to defrauding her nonprofit, Mothers Against Teen Violence, of $70,000 and using the money to gamble at Presque Isle Downs & Casino and to pay for personal expenses.
The lawyer, Leonard Ambrose, refers to the letters from Anderson and Witherspoon as well as the letters of 18 other friends and relatives of Arrington as he asks Senior U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone to spare Arrington a prison term.
Ambrose is asking that Cercone give Arrington probation or house arrest with electronic monitoring and impose no fine, citing what he said is Arrington s negative financial net worth. He said in the sentencing memo that Arrington s work as an anti-violence advocate work she started after the 2010 shooting death of her 19-year-old son, Steve Arrington II weighs heavily in Arrington s favor in seeking a lenient sentence.