Fumo

A tired, bearded, and resigned-looking Vincent J. Fumo sat silently in U.S. District Court on Wednesday as a federal judge affirmed that the once-powerful state legislator could face a longer prison sentence of at least 17 years. But at the extraordinary hearing to decide if Fumo will serve more than the 55 months imposed on him in 2009, U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter also expressed sympathy for Fumo's multiple health problems, a factor that defense attorneys hope would mean little or no extra time.

Former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo is back in Philadelphia to be resentenced Wednesday, but the real focus will be on a 74-year-old federal judge who must wrestle with how to respond to a rebuke from his bosses. Ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to resentence Fumo, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter must now decide whether to give Fumo more time or simply fix his legal errors and reinstate Fumo's hotly debated 55-month sentence. The defense wants the judge to stand pat. The prosecutors want Buckwalter to impose at least 15 years; Fumo has already served two years and two months.

Call it the many moods of Vince Fumo. In an e-mail war with federal prosecutors, the defense lawyers for former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo released their own selection Friday of Fumo's electronic messages from prison. The defense team said the messages show him to be a different and far more attractive man, or least a more sympathetic one, than the vengeful figure sketched out by prosecutors in their Fumo e-mail dump. In the new round of e-mails, Fumo worries about his weight and his mortality.

Vince Fumo's attorneys blasted federal prosecutors Friday in a court filing for "Orwellian" behavior when they published excerpts from Fumo's emails last week. While acknowledging the feds had the legal right to do so - and inmates are aware their communications may be monitored - the defense accused prosecutors of "intrusive surveillance" and criticized its "eleventh-hour use" less than two weeks before Fumo's resentencing on Wednesday. Prosecutors said in court papers on Oct. 28 that a trove of emails sent by Fumo between April and October showed he was "wholly unrepentant, virulently hostile toward the prosecutors ... and itching to write a book and exact revenge" on those who opposed him. But the defense said yesterday the feds' portrayal was "skewed" and based on cherry-picking emails to support their case that Fumo was a "conniving megalomaniac anxious to return to a life of crime ... while enjoying the restfulness" of life behind bars.

VINCE FUMO was taken on a nearly two-week journey from federal prison, in Ashland, Ky., to the Federal Detention Center in Center City as he awaits resentencing Wednesday. He shared some of his thoughts from the "diesel therapy" - his bus and plane trips - in emails to fiancée Carolyn Zinni. OCT. 27: * It was a very interesting experience but the guys were really good, and since I am the oldest in here, 2 guys offered me their seats. :-) One was a drug dealer and the other was a counterfeiter.

This pains me to say, but Vince Fumo's prison e-mail screeds should have no bearing on next week's resentencing. He's loathsome. He's unrepentant. So what? Since when do we sentence people for conduct after conviction? Is mouthing off against the law? Attorneys might argue otherwise, but if fairness is the goal, Fumo's criminally sweet sentence should be reconsidered based solely on all 137 counts of fraud and corruption of which he was found guilty. Reports of the inmate's alleged poor health or acts of grace behind bars should also be irrelevant in determining whether the once-omnipotent state senator spends another 15 years in federal custody.

"HELL hath no fury" like a U.S. attorney! Come on, guys, resentencing Vince Fumo reeks of cruel and unusual punishment. I'm not satisfied with a lot of sentences handed down by our judges, either. How about that dangerous repeat offender killing that poor hunter with his illegal high-powered rifle? Eight for him. And the women with the tortured hostages locked in her basement. She beat and starved to death a previous victim in 1981. Eight years for that. So, Judge Buckwalter, stick to your guns and stick to your sentence.

Next week marks the fleeting return of former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo to the city where he once wielded considerable power and lived like a pasha, not to mention his being among Oreck Vacuum's top customers. In 2009, Fumo was found guilty on all 137 counts of "my so-called crime" by a "dumb, corrupt and prejudiced" jury, given that he was "hounded forever by evil prosecutors who run amok without any restraint!" These observations, and so many more - Vince Raw - can be found in the government's resentencing memorandum, despite the exhortations of Fumo's lawyers and financée to be prudent because, as a federal prisoner, his messages are not private.

THE RESENTENCING of ex- state Sen. Vince Fumo next Wednesday is shaping up as a courtroom brawl between federal prosecutors and Fumo's defense. Here are some questions about how we got here and what is likely to happen next. Q: Why is Fumo being resentenced? A: A federal appeals panel in August found that U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter made several procedural legal errors when he sentenced Fumo to a 55-month prison term in July 2009. The panel ordered Buckwalter to correct the mistakes and resentence Fumo.