Tough sentences for white-collar offenders

In a number of high-profile cases, white-collar defendants have received below-guideline sentences (e.g., the Enron Nigerian barge defendants and former Governor Rowland and others), and I have pondered in this post whether we might be seeing a pattern of leniency in white-collar cases post-Booker (I also queried in this post whether the federal guidelines may be too tough on white-collar offenders). 

But, as detailed below, a number of recent sentencings suggest that not all white-collar offenders are reaping post-Booker breaks:

• This article from Chicago details that a "businessman whose family had been among the prominent supporters of Mayor Richard M. Daley was sentenced Wednesday to almost 10 years in federal prison for defrauding the city and a group of insurance companies."

• This article from New Jersey details that "former Hoboken Mayor Anthony J. Russo was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in federal prison and fined $30,000 for taking bribes from an accountant and towing contractor to help them get city contracts."  The article reveals that this sentence was at the very top of the applicable guideline range.

• This article from Indiana discusses a sentencing last month in which the 62-year-old former CEO [of the now-defunct Monon Corp.], Thomas Rosby, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison ... for his role in arranging fraudulent loans that led to the company’s forced bankruptcy in October 1996."