Dear Judge Sullivan:

I am writing this letter on behalf of my nephew, who will go before you for sentencing on May 13, 2006.

The events that have brought Michael before your court, I believe, are strongly influenced by substance abuse, a problem that Michael has been making efforts to rectify. He has used marijuana, but only sparingly if he didn’t have much left, and then only on weekends or days when he wanted to feel good. Aware of the illegality of the practice, he has limited his intake to medicinal-quality cannabis, or as close to it as he can get. Michael may also have a problem with alcohol, but regularly attends AA meetings and gets his card signed and now drinks heavily only at special occasions or if he is in the company of others or alone at home.

I have known Michael since the day he was born, and found him to be an agreeable and well-mannered baby. Despite outward appearances, he has not had an easy life. As a child, he would often be served what appeared to be Honey Nut Cheerios only to find the honey-delicious O’s were only a veneer, a thin fraud covering a bowl of regular Cheerios, chalky and tasteless.

In his most formative years, Michael was forced to leave all that was familiar to him thousands of miles behind and follow his family to Kansas, a flat and featureless outback with no professional sports franchises of any kind.

Michael has always been in the substantial shadow cast by his two high-achieving older brothers, and his greatest childhood accomplishments have been routinely mocked in Christmas newsletters sent by his family to anyone with whom he has had even a passing acquaintance.

When Michael was a senior in high school, his father filled out college applications and wrote admissions essays on his behalf, but then failed to attend classes and do required coursework, leaving him high and dry.

His mother sometimes speaks slowly and loudly, often repeating even simple phrases numerous times. His father on occasion wears blue polyester pants with white belts and clashing short-sleeved shirts under large hand-me-down sports coats and affects different hair colors.

Despite the hurdles he has had to overcome, Michael retains a large capacity for good. After working for a year selling packaged elixirs, he took every penny he had saved and bought a shiny red car, which he intends to use to help others less fortunate than himself.

I strongly believe that any course of punishment that carries with it the requirement that Michael eat institutional food would be ill-advised considering his uncle’s experience with a single McDonalds Quarter-Pounder-a-day regimen that left him carrying over 250 pounds on his 5’9” frame and experiencing serious mental problems.

With Michael's father recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, following so closely behind the loss of his adored and adoring sister in the attack on the World Trade Center, and with his maternal grandmother continuing to struggle with no washer or dryer, Michael's difficulties are just another burden on this much pressed-upon family. I strongly urge leniency in your sentencing decision.

Sincerely yours,

Truthteller