Pinson sentencing: Lawyer to show judge other “lighter” sentences

A lawyer for convicted racketeer Jonathan Pinson will use light sentences given other public officials in South Carolina and elsewhere as evidence as to why Pinson should not be given a lengthy prison term, according to filings in U.S. Distirct Court in Columbia.

“There is no compelling need, based on the facts of the case, to sentence Jonathan Pinson to a prolonged period of incarceration,” wrote Pinson attorney Jim Griffin.

Pinson is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday morning at the U.S. District courthouse by U.S. Judge David Norton.

Griffin said under government sentencing guidelines, Pinson could get up to about seven years in prison but in Griffin’s view, Pinson should get no more than two years in prison.

In public filings, prosecutors have not specifically said how much time they are seeking for prison, but in public statements they have indicated they want Judge Norton to give Pinson substantial time.

“A sentence of anything more than the 24 month sentence that was recently handed down to the former Governor of Virginia will not only result in an unwarranted dispartiy but will likely be cannon fodder for those who publicly blast the inequality of our criminal justice system,” Griffin wrote.

Griffin also referred to probationary sentences recently given to two South Carolina white collar crooks who were also public officials: Former House Speaker Bobby Harrell and former Lt. Gov. Ken Ard.

Last July, a federal jury convicted Pinson – a former board chair of S.C. State University – of 29 crimes, including racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering in various schemes, some of which was skimmed government money from grants and programs.

Pinson was the ringleader among a half-dozen lawbreakers who sometimes used his position with the school to make money illegally, the jury found. All others charged have pleaded guilty.

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A federal judge has ruled that convicted racketeer and former S.C. State University board chairman Jonathan Pinson must forfeit $337,000 in connection with the financial crimes he committed.

Some $234,000 of that $337,000 is the money that Pinson illegally siphoned from federal funds that were supposed to go to construction at the Village at River’s Edge development in Columbia, according to federal records.

Pinson ’s longtime friend and political ally Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin was originally a partner in Pin-son’s Village at River’s Edge Development, but was bought out by Pin-son, before Pinson became involved in any criminal activity, according to records.

Another $103,000 Pin-son must forfeit is to come from money he got from some $1million in economic development federal funds tagged for a diaper plant in Marion County. The plant never was active, and the $1 million spent to develop it was a total loss, prosecutors have said.

Federal Judge David North set the $337,000 figure earlier this month, after wrangling between federal prosecutors and Pinson ’s lawyer, Jim Griffin of Columbia, who wanted Pin-son to be eligible for only $74,100.

Prosecutors originally sought to make Pinson pay a total of $414,943.

Pinson and a half-dozen co-defendants have yet to be sentenced. All six co-defendants cooperated with the government and are expected to get little or no time in prison. Pinson is exposed to a maximum sentence of some 18 years and possibly millions in fines.

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ormer S.C. State University board chair and convicted felon Jonathan Pinson will be sentenced on March 11, according to a federal judge’s order.

Pinson , a Greenville businessman found guilty by a federal jury of racketeering and other criminal charges, likely will receive a prison term.

Defendants with no criminal history, such as Pinson , who cooperate with the federal government or who plead guilty are likely to receive little or no prison time. Those who insist on a trial and lose, such as Pinson , often wind up with lengthy prison terms. The maximum sentence Pinson could get is in the 18-year range, federal prosecutors have said.

Federal Judge David Norton, who presided over last summer’s trial, will sentence Pinson . Before the trial, Norton warned Pinson that if he were considering pleading guilty and potentially getting a lighter sentence, he should do it well before trial.

Pinson lawyer Jim Griffin

said Friday he intends to show the judge that Pinson has a long record of civic accomplishments and contributions.

"We will be asking the judge to temper justice with mercy," Griffin said.

Last July, a federal jury in Columbia found Pinson guilty of 29 of 45 felony counts. He did not testify during the 14-day trial. The government spent three years investigating and bringing the case.

During the trial, prosecutors labeled Pinson the "mastermind" racketeer of an operation that involved a half-dozen others and alleged four separate illegal money-making schemes. The racketeering charge he was convicted on involved Pinson ’s being part of an ongoing criminal enterprise that engaged in crimes such as money laundering, theft of federal funds, wire fraud, bribery and extortion.

The jury found Pinson guilty of criminal activity in two schemes involving S.C. State University.

In one scheme, evidence showed Pinson planned to get kickbacks by having the university hire a company owned by a friend of Pinson to book the band for the school’s 2011 Homecoming concert. The other involved a Pinson plot to get a kickback of a Porsche Cayenne SUV for his aid to a Florida developer who was trying to sell a 121-acre tract to the university. Those cars are worth some $90,000.

In another scheme, the jury found Pinson had converted to his personal use hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funds meant for ongoing construction of a Columbia public-private housing complex called the Village at River’s Edge.

Pinson started the project with Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin before Benjamin became mayor, buying Benjamin out just before Benjamin in 2009 announced plans to run for office. Testimony during trial linking Benjamin to Pinson proved embarrassing for the mayor.

One witness told the jury that Benjamin had flown to Orlando with Pinson and the Florida developer, Richard Zahn, and that Zahn had taken had taken the two men to a strip club and then brought a stripper back to Pinson ’s and Benjamin’s hotel room. Benjamin was not charged with any crime.

During the trial, the jury heard testimony from 20 government witnesses, including four Pinson co-conspirators who already had pleaded guilty and who testified against Pin-son. The jury also listened to snippets of 118 Pinson cellphone conversations secretly recorded by the FBI during 2011.

Five accomplices in Pin-son’s schemes have pleaded guilty, but have yet to be sentenced. They cooperated with the government and will receive little or no prison time, according to public plea agreements.

A sixth, former S.C. State University general counsel Ed Givens, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony and was sentenced to six months of probation. Givens admitted to participating in the Homecoming scheme, and became a crucial prosecution witness against Pinson .

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 5:39 PM.