Anti-ice protestors get 50 year and 70 year sentences "to send a message" to those w/ similar views

[LeftInTX]

27. Federal

FORT WORTH — Federal judges in Texas on Tuesday gave eight members of an alleged “antifa cell” prison sentences as long as 100 years for their roles last summer in a protest that turned violent outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.


https://wapo.st/4fX4q8x

The sentences handed down on Tuesday were unusually long, said Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor who served as the US attorney for the eastern district of Michigan during the Obama administration.

“Most often, judges will sentence defendants for separate counts concurrently. Here, it appears that the judge stacked the sentences for each count consecutively. I would have expected lengthy sentences here, more in the ballpark at 15 to 25 years, but nothing like 50 to 100 years,” she wrote in an email.

Federal courts have sentencing guidelines. I don't know what the guidelines are for consecutive versus concurrent. So, they might be able to appeal the sentencing.