Should A Former Guilderland Judge Have An Easier Prison Sentence?

A former Guilderland judge, who is now a convicted felon, was looking for some sympathy in court. He was basically told, “If you do the crime, you must do the time“.

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Former Guilderland judge, Richard Sherwood, sent a plea to the court for early release from jail because the conditions were unbearable. He was essentially told to get over it, it’s jail.

According to Newstimes, in 2018 Sherwood pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money, in addition to filing false tax returns. He admitted that while he was sitting on the bench, passing judgment on others, he was committing some very heinous crimes. He is serving a four-year term for stealing more than $12 million from some of his elderly clients. One of his clients was suffering from dementia.

Right now Sherman is doing his time in a minimum-security prison camp in Orange County, and he is still complaining about the deplorable conditions.

Although Sherman is fully vaccinated, he sent a letter begging for an early release because the conditions of the jail were unbearable. He complains that he is being housed in the same facility with murderers, drug dealers, and robbers.

Senior US. District Judge Lawrence Kahn was not convinced. Judge Kahn wrote, “Granting (Sherwood’s) request of compassionate release now, when he has only served around one-third of his sentence, would not reflect the seriousness of his crimes or provide just punishment”. Judge Kahn went on to say that if Sherwood were released from jail early, it may influence others to break the law and use their influence to avoid punishment.

I’m glad that Sherman is being held accountable for stealing money from his clients. I wonder what is going to happen to the millions of dollars that he stole from unsuspecting clients. How could he sit on the bench passing judgment on others when he knew that he was a criminal himself?