by TChris

It's bad enough when prosecutors break the rules to secure a conviction. When an accused's own lawyer turns against him, there's no hope of a fair trial.

Both ends of the criminal justice system worked against Patrick Rugiero, who is serving a 30 year sentence after being convicted of drug crimes in federal court. Fortunately, federal Magistrate Steven Pepe has recommended that Rugiero receive a new trial.

Rugiero's trial lawyer, Deday LaRene, was under investigation for tax evasion when he decided to represent Rugiero. Magistrate Pepe found that government lawyers were willing to offer Rugiero a deal that would limit Rugiero's sentence to 15 years in exchange for Rugiero's cooperation, but that LaRene never pursued the offer because didn't want Rugiero to reveal that he paid LaRene $80,000 in cash.

Magistrate Pepe also criticized federal prosecutor Keith Corbett, head of the Organized Crime Strike force, for failing to give key documents to Rugiero’s appellate lawyers for more than four years.

This isn’t the first time that Corbett has been accused of withholding documents. Corbett was co-counsel in the 2003 Detroit terrorism trial and has been under fire for failing to turn over a letter that raised questions about a key government witness.

Rugerio asked for the file on LaRene's tax fraud investigation in 1997, leading to more than 20 court hearings, during which the Corbett claimed the file was "missing." Magistrate Pepe didn't buy it.

Eventually, much of the file was found down the hall from Corbett’s office, in a file cabinet in the office of IRS Special Agent Frank Scartozzi — a fact disclosed when Rugiero’s lawyer, David Schoen, was allowed to question Scartozzi under oath. Corbett, Pepe wrote, “must have known of its existence.”

U.S. District Judge Paul Gadola will now decide whether to accept Magistrate Pepe's recommendation.