Former Federal Prosecutor To Pay Penalty in Porn Case

Ex-prosecutor must pay penalty in porn case
The Detroit News by Paul Egan - June 14, 2010

Detroit, MI -- A judge has ordered a former federal prosecutor to pay a $2,000 penalty for mishandling a child pornography case. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said attorney John Freeman broke a local court rule and tried to intimidate the victim's mother when representing Craig Aleo, a former Walled Lake Schools official who was sentenced to 60 years in prison in April for manufacturing child pornography in which he victimized a 4-year-old girl. Freeman, of Troy, filed a motion before Aleo's sentencing in which he asked Friedman to order the prosecutor to seek permission for the victim's mother to speak at the sentencing. Friedman said the lawyer, who worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit from 2000-07, inaccurately cited the Crime Victim's Rights Act as a basis for his "unwarranted and baseless" request. Freeman also broke a local court rule by failing to seek agreement from prosecutors before filing his motion, the judge said in an order Thursday. Freeman was given 10 days to pay $2,000 to the court clerk. "I'm disappointed that he's imposed sanctions," said Martin Crandall, Freeman's Detroit attorney. "It appears the judge believes there was an inappropriate ulterior motive in John filing his motion, which I respectfully disagree with. "We are looking at our options as to how best to clear this up." In a court filing, Freeman denied trying to intimidate the victim's mother, saying he wanted to "address a potential conflict between (Aleo's) due process rights and a victim's right to be heard at sentencing." The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers supported Freeman in opposing the sanctions. Detroit attorney James Feinberg, a representative of the association, said lawyers must be free to zealously and aggressively defend their clients.