SANTAGATA GETS 5-YEAR SENTENCE

Timothy W. Santagata of Clovis won the Bronze Star in Vietnam and was
active in his church. And, he trafficked in marijuana.

A jury convicted Santagata nearly nine months ago and now U.S. District
Judge Robert E. Coyle has sentenced him to five years in prison despite his
lawyer's request for mercy because Santagata is dying of cancer.

Santagata, 51, was convicted last December of possessing marijuana with
intent to distribute as part of an operation that also included a
professional football player.

Agents had found 48 marijuana plants and about 20 pounds of cut marijuana
in a Fresno house owned by Santagata, who has two earlier felony
convictions involving marijuana.

His sentencing was postponed to Monday while he underwent surgery and
treatment for cancer of the tongue and prostate. Doctors at Stanford
Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Palo Alto give
him only a 15% to 20% chance of living five years.

Santagata's lawyer, Sal Sciandra, asked Coyle to depart from mandatory
sentencing guidelines to allow Santagata to serve his time at home or with
an electronic monitoring device.

But Coyle said Santagata already got a break because prosecutors could have
pushed for a much longer sentence.

"The break the government has given to him is amazing considering the
circumstances," the judge said. " He's been involved in drug activities for
years."

Coyle also fined Santagata $6,000 and ordered him to spend four years on
supervised release after his prison term. He also allowed Santagata until
Nov. 16 to begin serving his sentence.

Earlier this summer, Coyle sentenced two others to prison in the case.
Richard C. Saathoff, 51, of Arizona, who once played football for the
Philadelphia Eagles was sentenced to two years in prison. Menthel R. Rank,
56, of Fresno received 50 months.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson