In advance of his sentencing hearing scheduled for Monday, Marc Dreier has filed papers with the court seeking a sentence of no more than 12 ½ years in prison (sound familiar?). The WSJ Law Blog reports that under the federal sentencing guidelines, Dreier faces a possible sentence of up to 145 years.
In his Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing, Dreier’s counsel writes that Dreier seeks leniency based on reason, not sympathy, and asks for the opportunity to have “some meaningful life beyond incarceration.” He argues that the guidelines places an unfair emphasis on the massive losses caused by Dreier’s fraud, and that a sentence of 121-151 months is “a sentencing range with a rational basis.”
Dreier himself also submits a letter to the court in which he states that mounting debts, a disappointing carer and a failed marriage ultimately led him to the “brazen idea of arranging fictitious loans from hedge funds.” Dreier’s entire extraordinary letter is available here at Exhibit C.
[…] and tried respectively. Dreier’s attorneys have requested a 12½-year sentence, prompting former SEC enforcement counsel Bruce Carton to caution, “Be careful asking for 12 Years… the last guy who did that got 150 […]
I find it hard to believe that he acted alone. Did his partners and colleagues work some kind of deal with the prosecutor? It is impossible to pull this kind of thing off without other people knowing.