Judge reduces sentence in Sled killing

Yvette Stewart, convicted of third-degree murder, now faces 10 to 20 years in prison. A Philadelphia homicide judge yesterday cut five to 10 years off his original sentence for Yvette Stewart, one of three people convicted on charges stemming from the 1996 stabbing death of University biochemist Vladimir Sled. Sentenced in October to 15 to 30 years for robbery and murder, Common Pleas Judge James Lineberger ordered that the sentence be reduced to 10 to 20 years. He also said that drug treatment would be a stipulation of her possible parole. Stewart's sentence remains the harshest of the defendants. Eugene "Sultan" Harrison, who was acquitted of murder but found guilty of two counts of robbery, received a seven-to-14 year term, also from Lineberger. The third defendant, Bridgette Black -- who has confessed to being the one who actually stabbed the Russian-born scientist on Halloween night in 1996 -- is serving a five-to-12 year sentence imposed in July by Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Temin, who cited Black's drug addiction and troubled childhood in sentencing Black well below state guidelines. Court officials announced last week that Temin would be reassigned to the civil division. That move came after a series of columns appeared in The Philadelphia Daily News accusing Temin of having tendencies to over-sympathize with the victim. Defense attorney Lee Mandell asked Lineberger to reconsider his original sentence, citing the fact that his client -- who was convicted of third-degree murder and robbery -- was less involved in the incident than either Harrison or Black, who received lighter sentences. But Harrison was tried by a different jury, which found him guilty of robbing Sled's fiancee, former University researcher Cecilia Hagerhall, but not murder. And Black, who pleaded guilty to a general charge of murder, expressed extreme remorse after her arrest and cooperated with authorities during the investigation and subsequent trials. Assistant District Attorney Mark Gilson, who has criticized the court's handling of all three trials in the past, asked Lineberger not to change the only thing "that went right." "[Stewart] has earned every minute of every day of every year in her sentence," he said. "The sentence of Yvette Stewart has been the only justice in this case." He also pointed out that Stewart has an extensive criminal record, including 18 arrests and nine convictions as an adult, with many more as a juvenile. But Stewart's attorney, Lee Mandell, said that all of those crimes were drug- or prostitution-related. He also told Lineberger that a "sense of justice and fair play" necessitated that his client's sentence be reduced to be more in line with Black's. Gilson said afterwards that he was "extremely disappointed" that the judge reduced the sentence at all. Mandell, meanwhile, called the new sentence "fair," though he "was hoping for a little bit more." Mandell also said he planned to appeal Stewart's verdict to the Pennsylvania Superior Court and ask for a new trial. Sled, 38, was stabbed to death while protecting Hagerhall from Harrison, who was trying to take her purse. Black emerged from the getaway car -- where she was waiting with Stewart -- armed with a knife. She testified during Harrison's April trial that she meant only to "scare" Sled. During the melee, Stewart allegedly fired a gun into the air.

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