Chantal Mc Corkle - Prison Sentence Controversy

Prison Sentence Controversy

McCorkle's incarceration in the US Federal Prison system began on 5 November 1998. She was assigned the following inmate identification number: 23033-018.

The severity of McCorkle's sentence drew notice in the United Kingdom, both in national media such as the BBC and amongst British Politicians. On 22 February 2005, Early Day Motion number 733 in the British Houses of Parliament debated the following topic:-

That this House notes that Chantal McCorkle, a British citizen, was sentenced to 24 years and four months imprisonment in the United States for offences which might carry only a suspended sentence in the UK; further notes that the judge who sentenced her in 1999 expressed disquiet at the sentence that she felt obliged to give; further notes that recent cases of Blakely and Booker in the United States Supreme Court cast doubt on the sentencing guidelines then used and give grounds for an appeal; and urges the Government to support Chantal's lawyers and press the United States legal system to hear Chantal's appeal against sentence as expeditiously as possible and to ensure that no barriers are placed to Chantal's transfer to the UK to serve whatever remaining sentence she has after her appeal.

A total of 127 British MPs officially endorsed the early day motion and their American counterparts were made aware, though previous letters had already been sent by other politicians such as Lord Longford. Although subsequent representations have been made to the American judicial system e.g. by Fiona Mactaggart (an MP, and former Prisons Minister) these were not acted on.

After several years of legal appeals against her sentence, McCorkle applied to transfer to a British prison to serve the remainder of her sentence, under the terms of a reciprocal treaty with the USA. However, her application was rejected in July 2006. McCorkle reapplied for a treaty transfer in 2008 but her application was once again rejected in October of that year.

On 30 October 2008, McCorkle received a letter from the US Department of Justice Pardon Attorney's office rejecting her request for commutation of her sentence.

After being transferred from FCI Dublin in California, as of July 2009 she was an inmate at FMC Carswell (Fort Worth, Texas) in the United States with an expected prison sentence expiry date of July 7, 2014. McCorkle remained in a medium-security prison, whereas William J. McCorkle (her ex-husband), had transferred to a low-security "camp" prison the previous year. McCorkle was not eligible for transfer to a lower-security prison because, as a British citizen, she was viewed as a high flight risk.