BLAIR COUNTY JUDGE REDUCES SENTENCE FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENSES FROM 56-112 YEARS TO 9-18 YEARS

Attorney Noel’s client was convicted by a Blair County jury of several offenses involving possession of child pornography. His original attorney did next to nothing to mitigate the sentence, and the trial judge imposed a shocking, de facto life sentence of 56 to 112 years in prison. Attorney Noel was retained years later and successfully petitioned for the reinstatement of her client’s post-sentence and appellate rights. During post-sentencing proceedings, Attorney Noel teamed up with Professor Jeffrey Ulmer of Penn State University to show, through a 20-year retrospective data analysis, that the original sentence was manifestly excessive and clearly unreasonable considering other sentences imposed in similar cases—both in Pennsylvania courts and in federal courts throughout the country. The sentencing judge was persuaded that the original sentence he imposed was excessive, and reduced Attorney Noel’s client’s sentence to 9 to 20 years of imprisonment.