Out-of-this-world federal sentencing next week

It is never hard to find fodder for this blog; there's no shortage of interesting sentencing stories.  Proof today come from this AP report about an out-of-this-world federal sentencing scheduled for next week.  Here are some details:

Former astronauts and others urged a federal judge to show leniency Monday when he sentences the former director of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center for stealing artifacts from the museum, saying Max Ary preserved the history of America's space program with the "utmost integrity and dedication."

Court papers filed in the case indicate U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten has received more than 100 letters in support of the embattled former director who turned a small Kansas museum into an internationally acclaimed facility on U.S. and Soviet space exploration....

Prosecutors have not filed a sentencing memorandum with the court. Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said federal prosecutors did not have any comment on sentencing recommendations. "I am sure Judge Marten will take into account all the available information and proceed as he deems is in the best interest of everyone," defense attorney Lee Thompson said Wednesday....

In November, a jury found Ary guilty of 12 counts - two counts of theft of government property, two counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, three counts of interstate transport of stolen goods and two counts money laundering.  He was found not guilty of one count of interstate transport of stolen goods and one count of money laundering.  He faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the wire fraud and mail fraud counts.  He faces up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine on each count of theft and each count of transportation of stolen property.