Tom Petters will be back in a federal courthouse later this week to ask a judge to cut his sentence from 50 years to 30.
Petters’ new attorneys are arguing ineffective assistance of counsel. They argue that his old defense lawyers did not communicate a plea offer the prosecution made of 30 years before the trial started. His old defense team says they discussed the offer with Petters multiple times but each time he rejected it.
In 2009 Petters was convicted on 20 counts of fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and other charges as part of a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme.
Petters’ current attorney, Steven Meshbesher, believes that a 2012 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court can be applied in this case.
In that ruling, the justices found that a defense attorney did not act in his client’s best interest when he received a written plea agreement offer from prosecutors but did not present it to the defendant before it expired.
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi attorney Christopher Madel represents the Petters defense team in the sentencing appeal. He called the new motion “laughable.”
The U.S. attorney’s office prosecuted Petters. The office says he would have admitted his guilt and pleaded guilty if given the opportunity. It wants the motion tossed out.
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