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Fed appeals court upholds former Newport alderman's sentence Tuesday, Jul 29, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Former Newport Alderman Pinkey McFarlin's sentence of three years probation for a drug conviction was not unreasonable because he suffers from a variety of health problems and has been cooperative while in custody, a federal appeals panel ruled Monday. In its ruling, the 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in St. Louis said McFarlin could serve his sentence in home detention. "The court finds the sentence of probation was not unreasonable," Monday's court's decision said, noting McFarlin, who weighs 310 pounds, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. He also has undergone several heart surgeries and suffers from asthma and other diseases. The appeals panel also noted that McFarlin had been installed as a preacher at a Newport church. McFarlin, originally charged with 25 counts of possession of intent to distribute the tranquilizer Xanax and crack cocaine and one count witness tampering, pleaded guilty in 2006 to a single charge of conspiring to distribute crack cocaine. The late U.S. District Court Judge George Howard Jr. sentenced him to serve his sentence at a Little Rock halfway house. McFarlin was later released from the halfway house because it wasn't addressing his multiple-medical issues, according to Monday's decision. U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright, after a hearing, ordered he be held in home detention. Her order did not require McFarlin to wear an electronic monitoring device, because he had cooperated with officers while at the halfway house and because wearing an ankle bracelet could exacerbate his medical problems, her ruling said. U.S. prosecutors argued against his release without supervision and said McFarlin should have served at least five years in prison for his drug conviction. The three-panel appeals court disagreed, saying the modification of the sentence was just. "Modification is a useful tool when the probationer's situation changes, a term in the conditions is ambiguous, or as recourse 'in cases of neglect, overwork, or simply unreasonableness on the part of the probation officer,'" the court said. "Here, modification can still be considered as the defendant is no longer benefiting from the structure of a residential reentry center." |
