Chapter 19 - The Sentencing
Judge Harrison did not delay the sentencing proceedings; due to the violent nature of the assault, the special aggravated circumstances of financial premeditation, and Julian’s disruptive behavior during trial, he ordered the sentencing phase to proceed immediately following the reading of the verdict.
Judge Harrison adjusted his reading glasses, leaned forward over the high mahogany bench, and fixed Julian Montgomery with an expression of profound, chilling judicial disdain that mirrored the condemnation of the entire city.
"Julian Montgomery," Judge Harrison spoke, his voice carrying the heavy, absolute weight of state and federal authority. "In my thirty-five years presiding over criminal courts in this state, I have rarely encountered a domestic case depicting such cold-blooded, calculated financial greed combined with such sadistic physical cruelty perpetrated against a vulnerable family member. You were blessed with brilliant education, social prestige, and a loving wife and son who looked to you for protection and security."
The judge struck his desk with his open palm for emphasis. "Instead of cherishing that family, you treated your spouse as a financial reservoir to be drained, and when your thefts were uncovered, you methodically planned and executed a brutal physical assault against an eight-month-pregnant woman—directly resulting in an emergency crash C-section and critical neonatal resuscitation—simply to facilitate a bank robbery and cover your commercial debts."
Judge Harrison picked up his gavel, his eyes locking onto Julian’s hollow, sweating face.
"You believed your wealth and social status made you untouchable—that discarding a woman and an unborn child on a hallway floor was your prerogative as a man of privilege. You were profoundly mistaken. Your brave seven-year-old son, your resilient wife, and your family's unshakeable preparation reached out from the darkness to expose your corruption and bring you to absolute, verifiable justice today."
Judge Harrison raised his gavel high above his sounding block.
"In accordance with the mandatory sentencing guidelines of this state, and reflecting the consecutive nature of your violent and financial felonies, for the crime of Attempted First-Degree Capital Murder and Aggravated Domestic Battery, I hereby sentence you to serve a term of twenty-five years in the State Department of Corrections. For the consecutive federal offenses of Wire Fraud, Bank Fraud, and Identity Theft, I sentence you to an additional term of ten years in federal custody, to be served consecutively with your state sentence."
The gavel slammed down onto the sounding block with the explosive force of a closing vault door.
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"You are sentenced to a total effective term of thirty-five years imprisonment, without the possibility of parole, commutation, or early release consideration until the year 2061. You will serve your sentence at the Attica Maximum Security State Penitentiary, where you will spend twenty-three hours a day locked in a concrete cell. You are remanded immediately to custody. Take the prisoner away!"
As the armed county bailiffs grabbed Julian’s arms to haul him out of the courtroom toward the transport van that would carry him to his maximum-security cage, he looked over his shoulder one last time toward the prosecution table. There was no arrogance left in his eyes—only the absolute, terrifying realization that he was never going to walk free as a wealthy man again. Clara stood beside me, looking back at him with her head held high, her expression entirely serene and completely devoid of pity. The double doors clicked shut behind him, sealing him away from the light forever.
