Sentencing disparities plague criminal justice system

An Indianapolis man who illegally trafficked 167 firearms — some used in crimes in Chicago, Georgia and Ohio — was sentenced this month to federal prison.

He got 18 months.

In January, a Columbus man who robbed two auto parts stores at gunpoint in 2019 also was sentenced to federal prison.

He got 18 years.

Eighteen years and nine months, to be precise.

There are no direct links, so far as we know, between the cases of Stephen King, 66, and Craishon Russell, 32.

But these two might as well be joined at the hip.

And the disparity in their prison sentencings highlights yet another failing of our political and criminal justice systems to address gun violence holistically.

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Russell came to federal court with a long history.

In 2011, he was sent to state prison for four years for robbing an East Side gas station. That indictment noted that he was prohibited from carrying a gun due to a prior case; at 17 years old he had been adjudicated delinquent for still another robbery.

The 2019 robberies that drew federal scrutiny were violent. Russell took control of the stores, herding employees around inside and ordering them to empty the safes at gunpoint. It was scary stuff.

In a sentencing memorandum for the federal case, defense lawyer Kristin Burkitt said Russell’s childhood was turbulent.

“He was exposed to violence early in life and was removed from the custody of his mother at age 12,” she wrote. “This background is not offered as an excuse for Mr. Russell’s choices or behaviors, but rather as an explanation of how a bright, capable young man can become this defendant — ‘Diablo’ — at such a young age.”

On the streets, it seems, Russell was known as the devil.

Where did the devil get his guns? Court records don’t say. Maybe he stole them. Maybe he traded for them on the street.