Gullixson: Jared Huffman's vote and a prisoner in Iran

It’s been something of a curiosity that while just about all the rest of his Democratic brethren from the Bay Area have come out in support of the deal, Rep. Jared Huffman has so far remained a holdout.

During a visit to The Press Democrat last week, the reason for his hesitancy became a little more apparent.

Huffman said he’s still looking at the details, particularly with an eye toward seeing what the alternatives are, aside from military involvement, to prevent Iran from moving ahead with its nuclear program. “And frankly I’m skeptical at this point that there is one,” he said.

Nevertheless, he wants to wait until he gets a classified briefing on the details once he returns to Washington next week.

Meanwhile, he said he’s also holding out hope that Iran will do right by one of his constituents, Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post correspondent and former Marin County resident who remains locked in an Iranian prison awaiting the outcome of his secret trial. Wednesday marked the 400th day of Rezaian’s imprisonment for reasons that remain largely a mystery.

He and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, were arrested on July 22, 2014. Salehi, also a journalist, was later released.

Huffman acknowledged that it would be much easier for him to come out and support the deal, “if Iran did the right thing and released” Rezaian who is “unjustly imprisoned.” Many around the world have condemned the arrest and the closed-door trial for the farce that it is.

Born and raised in California, Rezaian once worked in his father’s carpet store in Petaluma before later becoming a writer for the Post.

He was arrested in July 2014 and accused of spying for the United States, charges that the U.S. government has officially called “absurd” and devoid of any supporting evidence. But if convicted, Rezaian faces 10 to 20 years in prison, according to the Post.

He already has been in solitary confinement in Iran’s brutal Evin prison for much of his time in captivity. An Iranian court is expected to hand down a verdict any day.

Huffman said one of his concerns with the nuclear deal has to do with the credibility and reliability of the Iran government.

Releasing Rezaian would go far in addressing those concerns, he said. “They have the opportunity to do the right thing here,” he said.

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I WAS GOING to write this as a thumbs-down in our Tuesday editorial. But I decided it needed a little more than that. Call this one throwing my hands - and all appendages - up in disgust.

How is it that Gary T. Armitage, the former Santa Rosa investment adviser who swindled hundreds of North Coast residents out of millions in retirement funds is already out of prison? He was sentenced in 2013 to serve 10 years. According to my crackerjack math skills, he has served two.

Why is it that we have all of these mandatory sentencing procedures now? But when somebody is guilty of so-called white-collar crime involving millions, their sentencings suddenly become like their tax filings - full of loopholes and deductions?

Keep in mind that Armitage was sentenced to 10 years for orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme that bilked some 2,000 investors, many of them seniors, out of a total of $200 million in savings - all to support an extravagant lifestyle that included an 80-acre castle-themed palace in the mountains west of Redding.

He was sentenced to serve 10 years, but he only had to serve half of that before being eligible for parole. Plus he was credited with about two years he spent in jail awaiting trial.

Compare that with the story on Friday of a Rohnert Park man who was found guilty of posing as a pizza delivery guy before invading a Santa Rosa home. The guy and his accomplice held three victims at gunpoint while they stole jewelry, cash and other valuables. It was nasty business. The guy, who reportedly had gang ties, received 18 years.

I don’t question the fairness of the sentence. I just question the equity.

I brought this up last year in a column comparing the case of Armitage and Jason Cassell, a Santa Rosa resident who, fueled by a drug addiction, was responsible for a series of break-ins of Santa Rosa homes. In the end, when Cassell was caught, he confessed and most of the property was returned. No one was injured in the assaults, and no gun was used. In addition, Cassell has expressed his regrets, unlike Armitage. Nonetheless, Cassell was sentenced in 2011 to 10 years, and most of that is mandatory. He was in prison long before Armitage was convicted, and he will be there long after Armitage got out.

Hmmm. Steal valuables while dressed in rags and get thrown in prison for years. Steal everything from thousands of people while wearing a suit and a smile and be out in less time than it takes to get a college degree. That’s an equation that makes no sense.