Callers unhappy with decision
Several callers voiced their displeasure with U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt’s decision last week to shut the media out of a sentencing hearing for a young man who pleaded guilty to stealing money from the bank accounts of 20 people.
They called the Review-Journal and dialed Hunt’s chambers phone.
On Tuesday, Hunt explained his decision without discussing the hearing that unfolded last Wednesday in his courtroom, where Kingsley Osemwengie received a 28-month prison term.
“As a rule, when you see a sealing of a sentencing or a plea … the reason is the person has cooperated with the government,” Hunt said. “There is a consideration of that in the sentencing hearing; the things the person did in cooperating.
“What can happen is if that is made public, it could endanger the person and often times their family.”
Osemwengie, a former University of Nevada, Las Vegas student, used bogus credit cards and fake identification to siphon money from bank accounts across the valley.
Osemwengie’s indictment says he and 15 co-defendants used fake identification and cards bearing the name of the true cardholder to obtain 63 U.S. Postal Service money orders totaling $57,863. They also purchased thousands of dollars in merchandise, according to the indictment.
Last week, Osemwengie’s attorney, Tom Pitaro, requested that the sentencing hearing be sealed. Prosecutors agreed. After a brief private meeting between the attorneys and the judge, Hunt sealed the proceedings. The media was excluded. Osemwengie’s family was allowed to stay.
Hunt said publicly disclosing the reason for sealing the hearing would have defeated the purpose of closing it to the public.
“It’s not going to hurt for the family members to know what’s going on,” Hunt said. “It’s sealed from the general public. We can approve certain people to stay in there.”
The sentencing doled out to Osemwengie should not have been kept secret, Hunt said. It was not available from the court for days after the hearing. Hunt said that information should be public, and he disclosed Osemwengie’s sentence.
