A police officer who prosecutors had said plotted to kidnap, cook and eat women will now serve house arrest after a portion of his conviction was overturned.
Gilberto Valle was convicted last year of kidnapping conspiracy and illegally accessing law enforcement databases.
Prosecutors had said that he plotted to kidnap, cook and eat more than 100 women and discussed his plans with other people online.
Valle’s attorneys had argued that the former officer’s internet discussions were just “fantasy role-play.”
A federal judge agreed and tossed out the kidnapping conspiracy conviction.
“It validates what we’ve been saying from the very beginning of this case,” said Julia Gatto, Valle’s defense attorney. “Gil Valle is entirely innocent of the crime charged. He is guilty of nothing more than very unconventional thoughts, but as Judge Gardefie has validated, we don’t put people in jail for their thoughts. We are not the thought police.”
The government said it intends to appeal the decision.
The judge did uphold Valle’s conviction for illegally accessing law enforcement databases, which carries a maximum sentence of a year behind bars.
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via Great Local News: New York http://ift.tt/1iZiLP1
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