What? A Saturday night federal court hearing? Never heard of that in my 25 years of EDCA practice. Here's the Sac Bee's coverage:
A suspect accused in a massive arson for profit scheme that also entangled the father of French train hero Spencer Stone has pleaded guilty in a move that will net him 30 years in prison.
Jamal Mustafa Shehadeh, 58, agreed to the plea in an unusual Saturday night court hearing before U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr., who then sentenced him, court filings show.
“He decided to plead guilty instead of going to trial,” Shehadeh’s assistant federal defender, Matthew Bockman, said Monday.
Shehadeh, who has been in custody at the Sacramento County Jail since being charged in a 60-count indictment in February 2016, pleaded guilty to two counts of arson in a case that allegedly included numerous fires that destroyed Sacramento buildings, $1.5 million in insurance payouts, classified government evidence and even suggestions of murder.