I sent an Arizona man to prison for 290 years. His case still haunts me

I sent plenty of people to prison during my career as a judge. Now I’m working to get one man out, and not because I think he’s innocent.

I participated in hundreds of sentencing hearings in my 44-year career as a prosecutor and as a judge.

Most of the sentences imposed were within the range I thought reasonable given the crime committed and the defendant’s background. 

Occasionally, the law mandated an excessive sentence, which I had to impose.

By far the most egregious example of an excessive mandated sentence that I was ever required to impose came in 2007. The defendant, Carl Ray Buske, was a 47-year-old aviation mechanic with no criminal record other than a 15-year-old conviction for drug possession.

His offense: the possession of 29 printed images of child pornography.

I was required to sentence him to 290 years

Buske did not create the images, sell them or even share the images with anyone.

Yet Arizona law required that his sentence be not less than 10 years for each image, with each sentence to be consecutive to the others — that is, one stacked on top of the other — for a total of 290 years in prison. 

Like most people, I abhor child pornography. The possession of such images should be illegal and severely punished.

However, one of the guiding principles of our criminal justice system is that the punishment should be proportionate to and commensurate with the crime.

A sentence of 290 years in prison (a life sentence, in effect) for this conduct is not only disproportionate, it’s unconscionable. 

Average sentence in other states is about 5 years

This is not a question of guilt.

It is a question of whether the 17 years the convicted man has already spent in prison is an adequate penalty for his conduct.

To me, the obvious and inescapable answer is yes. This opinion is shared by eight other retired Pima County Superior Court judges who signed a petition in support of Buske’s application for commutation, seeking his release. 

It is further supported by the fact that federal law, unlike Arizona law, mandates no prison time and provides for a maximum sentence of 10 years for similar offenses.

Tougher mandatory sentences: Won’t save anyone from fentanyl

A 2022 Federal Sentencing Commission report found that the federal sentences imposed for possession of child  pornography for 1,435 defendants with profiles similar to Buske’s was an average of about five years.

It is astounding to realize that his sentence far exceeds the minimum sentence provided in Arizona law for many crimes involving serious violence and physical injury to the victim, such as second-degree murder (10 years), rape (seven years) and sexual assault of a child under 12 (13 years).

Arizona’s harsh sentencing scheme is out of step with all other states. In no other state would he have been exposed to as severe of a sentence as he received here. 

Child porn offenses rarely lead to escalated crime

Some worry about releasing those convicted of possessing child pornography, believing that they may graduate to sexual contact offenses. But this same Federal Sentencing Commission report found that for those convicted of non-production child pornography offenses, the overall sexual recidivism rate was 4.3% and for contact sex offenses it was 1.3%.

This is miniscule compared to the overall recidivism rate of 43% for all released federal prisoners and approximately 40% for all Arizona released state prisoners. 

The injustice of this sentence has haunted me for the 17 years since it was imposed.

It is an embarrassment to our criminal justice system. To rectify the injustice, I have been working with the University of Arizona Law School on an application for commutation of sentence, which is now pending before the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency.

The board represents the last chance for the Arizona criminal justice system to correct this injustice by recommending that the governor commute Buske’s sentence to time served.

Furthermore, if this injustice is not to be repeated, the Arizona Legislature must amend the mandatory sentencing law that allowed it to happen.

Both acts will require political courage. I hope that justice will not be sacrificed for political expedience.

John Leonardo is a retired Pima County Superior Court judge and a former assistant United States Attorney and United States Attorney for the District of Arizona.