What a deal! Coach's son scored big one before judge
By Scott Sexton
Winston-Salem Journal
If you needed further evidence that the justice system is stacked in favor of the well-off and well-connected, look no further than Guilford County, where Judge Henry Frye Jr. cut an extraordinary deal Tuesday for an admitted armed robber who happens to be the son (and namesake) of Sidney Lowe, the head basketball coach at N.C. State.
Sidney Lowe II, 23, was charged with more than 10 felonies -- multiple counts of armed robbery and kidnapping among them -- related to his participation in a home invasion in Greensboro on March 16, 2007, and a shooting in a dormitory at UNC Greensboro eight days later.
As part of a deal, Lowe entered a guilty plea Monday in which he accepted responsibility for six counts of armed robbery and second-degree kidnapping in connection with the home invasion.
As for the on-campus shooting, Lowe took the weasel way out by entering an Alford plea -- a legal dodge that allows someone to say maybe he did something but won't actually cop to it -- to charges resulting from that incident.
For all that, young Lowe could have been sent away for up to 23 years.
Instead, Frye chose to give him 15 months active time at a minimum-security prison farm -- nearly two years less than what the state requires of armed robbers in similar circumstances.
To call that sentence a break would be a galactic understatement.
Winston-Salem Journal
If you needed further evidence that the justice system is stacked in favor of the well-off and well-connected, look no further than Guilford County, where Judge Henry Frye Jr. cut an extraordinary deal Tuesday for an admitted armed robber who happens to be the son (and namesake) of Sidney Lowe, the head basketball coach at N.C. State.
Sidney Lowe II, 23, was charged with more than 10 felonies -- multiple counts of armed robbery and kidnapping among them -- related to his participation in a home invasion in Greensboro on March 16, 2007, and a shooting in a dormitory at UNC Greensboro eight days later.
As part of a deal, Lowe entered a guilty plea Monday in which he accepted responsibility for six counts of armed robbery and second-degree kidnapping in connection with the home invasion.
As for the on-campus shooting, Lowe took the weasel way out by entering an Alford plea -- a legal dodge that allows someone to say maybe he did something but won't actually cop to it -- to charges resulting from that incident.
For all that, young Lowe could have been sent away for up to 23 years.
Instead, Frye chose to give him 15 months active time at a minimum-security prison farm -- nearly two years less than what the state requires of armed robbers in similar circumstances.
To call that sentence a break would be a galactic understatement.
posted by Andy W. Rogers | 7:58 PM
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