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In a recent, high-profile case, the judge handed out a lenient sentence to a witness that cooperated with prosecutors. Caroline Ellison received 2 years from Judge Lewis Kaplan for her role in a plan to defraud people out of nearly 8 billion dollars. FTX was a company that allowed people to buy and sell digital assets. FTX later collapsed in 2022 due to a surge of customer withdrawals over their close relationship with Alameda, a company ran by Caroline Ellison. Alameda's value was based on speculative crypto currency which made investors uncomfortable. Ellison had a similar list of charges as those of her former boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried, who ultimately was sentenced to 25 years. He is appealing his conviction. Both parties were sentenced by the same judge. Despite whether someone gives testimony for the prosecution or not, and even though it is within the judge's discretion on how they sentence offenders (unless a mandatory minimum is required), the optics make it seem unfair. Most judges are former prosecutors, and they are paid by the government, whether it be federal or state... Click here
This could be a serious flaw in the judicial system. Appearances are that working with the prosecution gets you a less harsh sentence imposed by the judge. This would seemingly imply that the judge and prosecution are in collusion though impartiality is promised in the court system. In another high-profile case involving rapper Young Thug, Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville was removed from the case over an "ex parte" meeting that he held without the defense team being present. Judge Glanville has been a defense attorney in the Army but has been a prosecutor much longer. Click here