Pizza Man fire case set for sentencing
A federal jury last year acquitted Feras Rahman of arranging or starting the 2010 fire that destroyed Pizza Man restaurant, but he may still be punished for that crime.
How? Through something called "acquitted-conduct sentencing," which, though it may sound like an oxymoron, has been upheld repeatedly in federal courts, though critics still claim it violates the Constitution.
Rahman was found guilty of one count of lying to investigators, and prosecutors want the judge to consider the "acquitted conduct" of arson and mail fraud when he sentences Rahman on Monday on the false-statement conviction.
Rahman's attorney has called that "a perverse result" that would disrespect the jury that heard the case last May, a jury he said was attentive throughout a well-tried case.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/pizza-man-fire-case-set-for-sentencing-kr931k6-196789571.html