A look at the judge in the Fumo case

U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter once gave Philadelphia mob boss John Stanfa five life sentences.

On other occasions, Buckwalter showed leniency.

Yesterday, the judge cut former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo a break, sentencing him to about 41/2 years in prison.

A presentencing report compiled by a veteran federal probation officer had established a guideline range of 21 to 27 years in prison on the multiple convictions. Prosecutors had sought a prison term of more than 15 years. Sentencing guidelines calculated by the judge himself put the duration of incarceration at 11 to 14 years.

Buckwalter, 72, a Republican who once served as district attorney in conservative Lancaster County, said he had to balance the Philadelphia Democrat's crimes with the good he had accomplished over his decades-long legislative career.

In court, Buckwalter read aloud a letter that he said reflected the view of many average citizens. "Vince Fumo is a disgrace," the letter said. But Buckwalter said that was the view of those who had not carefully analyzed the case.

The white-haired Buckwalter presided over Fumo's 22-week trial with an affable manner, but also with a no-nonsense approach. With an easy smile, he made it clear that he would not tolerate theatrics in his courtroom. He showed leniency to the jury by asking them to come to court only four days a week because of the expected length of the proceedings and the fact that some of them had to commute from as far away as Lehigh County.

Born in 1936 in Lancaster, Ronald Lawrence Buckwalter graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1958 and got his law degree from the College of William and Mary School of Law in 1962.

He maintained a private practice and served as a legal-aid attorney in Lancaster before becoming a prosecutor in 1970. In 1978, he became the district attorney. During the 1980s, he was a Common Pleas Court judge.

On Nov. 17, 1989, he was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to become a federal judge. He assumed senior, semiretired status at the end of 2003.

His most high-profile case was the sensational 1995 trial of John Stanfa and seven associates with such nicknames as "Al Pajamas" and "Shotsie."

They all got hammered with big sentences.

In 2002, Buckwalter showed some mercy for aging mobster Anthony "Tony Buck" Piccolo, then 79, whom he had sentenced to 45 years in prison. Buckwalter reduced the sentence to 131/2 years.

Tony Buck died two years later in a prison hospital.