The Providence Journal reports, "Death sentence avoided as Jason Pleau’s pleads guilty in 2010 killing of gas-station manager," by Mike Stanton.
The saga of Jason Wayne Pleau, the accused killer whose case drew a governor and the U.S. attorney general into the national debate on the death penalty, has reached a resolution that could see his life spared, in return for spending the rest of it behind bars.In a plea agreement filed in federal court Friday, Pleau, who faced the death penalty, agreed to plead guilty to charges in connection with his fatal shooting of David D. Main, a Woonsocket gas station manager, during a bank robbery in September 2010.
Pleau agreed to accept a life sentence in prison, with no release.
In return, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a decision by federal prosecutors not to seek the death penalty.
Pleau, who is being held at the federal Donald D. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, is expected to appear in federal court July 31 to enter his plea before U.S. District Judge William E. Smith.
“Obviously, we’re all grateful that Jason Pleau isn’t facing the prospect of a death sentence,” said his lawyer, Robert B. Mann.
Pleau’s case attracted national attention when Governor Chafee, an opponent of the death penalty, refused to turn Pleau over to federal custody.
Chafee issued a statement following Friday’s announcement by federal prosecutors.
“My thoughts are with Mr. Main’s family. The case today has reached a conclusion, and Mr. Main’s family can begin the long healing process. A life sentence is the appropriate punishment for this brutal crime and respects Rhode Island’s long-standing opposition to the death penalty.”
AP coverage is, "RI man in capital punishment battle agrees to plead guilty to avoid death penalty," by Michelle R. Smith, via the Tribune.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee fought unsuccessfully to keep Pleau out of federal custody because of the threat of capital punishment. Chafee said the state had rejected the use of the death penalty and that it was an issue of state's rights. The National Governor's Association, attorneys general from seven states, the conservative Cato Institute, the American Civil Liberties Union and others filed court papers supporting his position.
But an appeals court ruled last year the state must surrender Pleau to federal officials, and the U.S. Supreme Court in January declined to take up Chafee's appeal of that ruling.
Earlier coverage of the state-federal dispute involving Rhode Island begins at the link. Related posts are in the federal death penalty index.
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