Alphonso Ponton, one of the 14 Operation Rockfish defendants to take a plea, is now asking for an appeal and has also asked a federal judge to enter him into a drug treatment program.
The request came in the form of a two-part letter to United States Senior Court Judge Malcolm Howard and was recently entered into the electronic court record.
The second part of the letter deals with the appeal while the first part deals with the drug treatment program.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Wednesday assigned a case number and appointed Mitchell Glenn Styles to represent Ponton.
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In the handwritten letter to Howard, Ponton wrote, “I would like to appeal my plea because I truly believed I could have gotten a better plea.”
Ponton notes he was sentenced to 48 months “but there was another person in my case receiving less than a year and my involvement was lesser than hers.”
Crystal Pierce, the only civilian in the police corruption case, was sentenced to 6 months; Tosha Dailey 24 months and Alaina Sue-Kam-Ling 36 months. Ponton does not name the person in the letter, which was sent from an Atlanta prison where he is incarcerated.
“I believe my offense level was entirely too high for my involvement in my case. Can I please get an appeal for (the sentence) I got. I believe my lawyer could have done more. He didn’t let me know I couldn’t get in any trouble if I used drugs/alcohol in the past.”
Ponton closes the letter saying, “Finally, I’m writing from my heart because I know if I can get help now it will better me in the future. I don’t know anything about appeals but I have heard about it, that’s why I’m asking.”
In the first part of the letter, which was received September 5, he asks to be put on the Residential Drug Abuse Program. “I need someone to help me so I can help myself to become a better husband, father, grandfather and son because I don’t want to never come back to prison again.”