Immediate jail time no certainty even if Nacchio sentenced

Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 27, 2007 at midnight

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If Joe Nacchio is sentenced to prison today, he likely will get a few weeks to get his affairs in order before reporting.

Defense attorneys argue Nacchio should remain free pending appeal, but prosecutors countered today that none of the issues raised is substantial enough to keep Nacchio out.

Legal experts say U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham would have to concede Nacchio’s chances for a successful appeal are reasonably good.

That doesn’t mean Nottingham would have to acknowledge he made an error. "He’d just have to find that other courts might have reached a different conclusion on significant issues in the case," Denver defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt said.

Several experts have said they believe Nottingham was careful during the trial and set a high bar for prosecutors.

Nelson Phelps, executive director of the Association of US West Retirees, said the attitude of retirees he’s talked to is that Nacchio "has had plenty of time to get his things in order. They think he should be put in handcuffs and led away."

If that happens, Nacchio would be held temporarily, perhaps at the federal detention facility in southern Jefferson County, until a prison is assigned.

Felicia Ponce, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman, said the normal turnaround time to assign a prison is three days, but it sometimes takes up to two weeks to get the paperwork from sentencing.

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