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STIFF SENTENCES HANDED DOWN TO POST-KATRINA LOOTERS: Three get 15 years each for making off with liquor, wine, and beer.
*A Louisiana judge sent a strong message against looting when he sentenced three people to 15 years in prison -- the maximum sentence -- for attempting to haul away 27 bottles of liquor and wine, six cases of beer and one case of wine coolers from a grocery store after Hurricane Katrina.
Coralnelle Little, 36, Rhonda McGowen, 42, and Paul C. Pearson, 36, all of Kenner, LA, were convicted by a jury on May 2 of looting during a declared state of emergency, a portion of the looting law that took effect just two weeks before the violent storm hit. The new law set the possibility of a three-year minimum and a 15-year maximum prison term if convicted.
Little, McGowen and Pearson each testified that they were not looting, but they
offered conflicting accounts of matters such as who drove to the store.
The defendants attorneys feel that the sentence is excessive and Pearson's attorney, Bruce Netterville, said there would be an appeal.
