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Judge delays Reddy sentence decision

By Matthew Artz Daily Planet Staff
Tuesday October 29, 2002

A U.S. District Court Judge indefinitely postponed a decision Monday on whether to reduce the sentence of wealthy Berkeley landlord Lakireddy Bali Reddy, who was imprisoned for his role in smuggling Indian girls into the country for sex and cheap labor. 

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken was to hear arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys, both of whom are calling for her to cut two years off Reddy’s eight-year prison sentence. Instead of a hearing, however, she called on both sides to present additional written evidence, which will likely delay a final ruling until the beginning of next year. 

Defendants and prosecutors agree that Reddy’s 2001 trial was marred by a revelation they say is grounds for a lighter sentence. In October 2001, four months after Reddy was sentenced to 97 months in prison, prosecutors found that Uma Rao, the court-appointed interpreter had encouraged prosecution witnesses to embellish their stories of Reddy’s abuse. 

In a court paper filed Sept. 18, Reddy attorney Ted Cassman and U.S. Attorney Stephen Corrigan asked Judge Wilken to “correct” the sentence by reducing the sentence to 78 months. 

 

Judge Wilken, however, wrote in an order filed on Oct. 17 that she was not inclined to reduce the sentence given the current evidence of the interpreter’s misdeeds. 

She gave defense attorneys until Nov. 16 to present new evidence to support a shorter sentence. She also asked prosecutors to address whether they think that, in light of the interpreter’s actions, U.S. law requires the sentence be reduced. 

This is not the first instance in the Reddy case of the judge butting heads with trial attorneys. 

During the original sentencing in June 2001 prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to a plea-bargain with a six-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong ruled that the sentence was too light and added two years. Armstrong removed herself from the case last year. 

Protesters opposed to reducing Reddy’s sentence stood outside the Oakland Federal Building Monday. The said they were heartened that Wilken was requiring further evidence and instead saved their wrath for the Prosecutor Stephen Corrigan. 

“It’s as if he’s on the other side,” said Diana Russell, a member of Berkeley-based Women Against Sexual Slavery. 

Reddy’s brother and sister-in-law Jayaprakash and Annapurna Lakireddy, have pleaded guilty to visa fraud, but neither is serving prison time. Reddy’s son Vijay Lakireddy pleaded guilty to one count of visa fraud and is awaiting sentencing, while Reddy’s younger son, Prasad Lakireddy will go to trial in January on charges of illegally importing girls to the country for “immoral purposes.” 

 

Contact reporter at matt 

@berkeleydailyplanet.net