The Justice Department asked a New York district judge for prison time of four to ten months for the woman who stole Ashley Biden’s diary, according to a filing submitted on Tuesday.
Prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York initially sought six months of home confinement and three years probation for the woman, Aimee Harris, who pleaded guilty to stealing and selling the diary in August 2022.
However, prosecutors argued in the filing that Harris moved her sentencing hearing date 12 times in an effort to “improperly delay” sentencing, which warrants the enhanced punishment.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ filing to District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said:
In light of the defendant’s conduct in this case since the Government filed its initial sentencing submission in September 2023 (as described above), and the recent revelations regarding her conduct in other prior proceedings over the past four years (as described in Dkt. 89), the Government’s assessment of the pertinent § 3553(a) factors in this case has changed.
Williams added:
Taking into account all of the factors set forth in § 3553(a), including the defendant’s background and characteristics, the nature and circumstances of the offense, the importance of general and specific deterrence, and the need to promote respect for the law, a sentence within the applicable Guidelines range of 4 to 10 months’ imprisonment would be sufficient but not greater than necessary to accomplish the purposes of sentencing, including but not limited to promoting respect for the law and specific and general deterrence.
Harris came across Biden’s diary, tax records, private family photos, and her cell phone in September 2020 during a stay at a Delray Beach, Florida, home where the first daughter had previously lived, according to the New York Post. At the time, President Joe Biden was the Democrat presidential nominee.
Harris and co-defendant Robert Kurlander then sold it to Project Veritas for $40,000.
Harris is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9 after repeated delays of the date, and Kurlander, who also pleaded guilty, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12, according to the Post.
Williams also wrote to the judge that Harris was being sentenced for “scandalous conduct [that] is appalling and must not be overlooked…and which, in and of itself, exhibited a clear disrespect for the law.”
“In addition, the defendant’s sentence must also account for the manner in which she has abused the administration of justice throughout the pendency of this court proceeding,” he wrote.
He also wrote that Harris has shown “a complete disregard” for the Court’s orders:
The defendant has repeatedly and consistently engaged in tactics to improperly delay this proceeding, including by misleading the Court with false information to justify belated and unmerited requests for adjournments, refusing to appear when directed, and failing to comply with court orders to disclose or produce certain information. Through this pattern of behavior, the defendant has shown a complete disregard for the Court’s orders and for the orderly administration of this judicial proceeding.
Williams warned that if she does not appear, they may ask for an enhancement for obstruction of justice.
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