Leniency for Aipac leaker

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A federal judge has virtually wiped out the prison sentence of more than 12 years he first imposed on a Pentagon analyst who pled guilty to leaking classified information to two pro-Israel lobbyists.

At a hearing Thursday evening in Alexandria, Va., Judge T.S. Ellis reduced the sentence for the former defense official, Larry Franklin, to probation plus 10 months in "community confinement," likely a halfway house.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to drop the sentence to 8 years in light of Franklin's cooperation, while a defense lawyer
for Franklin, Plato Cacheris, asked for "no sentence at all."

In explaining his decision to dramatically reduce Franklin's sentence, Ellis cited the lack of punishment and light punishments imposed on other leakers, as well as Franklin's cooperation in the prosecution of the two lobbyists later fired from the American Israel Public Affairs committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman.

Last month, days before the case against the pair was set to go to trial, the government dropped the prosecution. The Justice Department said legal rulings in the case and the threat of new disclosures of classified information made a trial unadvisable.

"It's a very difficult and unusual situation," Ellis said. "This one is unique."

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[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. Guess what really happened.

AIPAC's grubby hands were carrying cash one one hand, and threats on the other.