BBC London News. April 19, 2005.
Studio presenter: There's new hope tonight for a woman from Slough who was given a 24-year prison sentence in America. Chantal McCorkle was convicted on fraud charges after a business venture with her husband went disastrously wrong. The same offences in England would have attracted little more than a suspended sentence, or a fine. Recently in Parliament almost 130 MPs signed a Commons Motion calling for her immediate release. And a change in the law in America offers a better chance of her finally coming home to her family.
Our Home Affairs correspondent Guy Smith has sent this special report from the US.
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Guy Smith's voice: Already 6 years in jail, and Chantal McCorkle's chances of getting out: still not good. But, there is hope. She has an appeal pending and it could mean her sentence being reduced.
Chantal McCorkle (talking to Guy Smith) in prison: “I still have one appeal in the Courts and the option of a treaty transfer to England to be closer to my family, but...”
Guy Smith: “And if that fails?”
Chantal McCorkle: “I can't even think about that.”
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Guy Smith's voice: A jury convicted Chantal, and her husband William McCorkle, of conspiracy to defraud, both being later jailed for 24 years and 4 months without parole. William McCorkle ran a company in Florida selling videos, $69 a time, about how to get rich quick on the property market. They were watched across America – ‘Infomercials' - viewers placing orders on a free phone number - (showing clip of Chantal in the infomercial).
William apparently asked Chantal to appear on screen with him. Using private helicopters, expensive cars and boats; an impression of a luxury lifestyle.
But, with no mention they were rented. (Clip of actor in infomercial.) So called ‘Happy Customers' claimed how successful they'd been using the video. They too were fake, just actors playing a role. That's where the McCorkles came un-stuck.
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Chantal McCorkle (talking to Guy Smith) in prison: “I never dreamed that what we was doing was anything illegal. There was no way I'd have gone on National television or signed my name on documents that I thought would have eventually put me in prison for 24 years.”
Guy Smith's voice: It was an incredible sentence, for what was a non-violent crime, and indeed Chantal McCorkle's first offence.
Guy Smith (to camera - outside prison): Here at this jail in California, lawyers say not even someone responsible for 2nd degree murder, child abuse, or even drug dealing, would have got more than 24 years.
(Pictures from the family album of Chantal growing up, on screen.)
Guy Smith's voice: Chantal McCorkle was brought up in Slough, Berkshire. At 19, getting a job as a nanny in the US. She soon fell in love with William, a young American businessman. But, he was a bankrupt so made Chantal the President of his company. The brains behind the scheme, William, within 7 years, grew the business into a multi million-dollar operation, at one time employing up to 400 people here at this warehouse in Orlando. They were living the American dream; this their house in an exclusive suburb – the authorities later seizing it with all other assets. Chantal along with William was sentenced in January 1999. It was big news. Here in Orlando's public library, I found the local daily newspaper had covered the trial.
William McCorkle is described as ‘master minding' the infomercials: producing, directing and editing them. Chantal's friends saying her involvement was minimal.
Mr. William Fischbach (caption describes him as family friend): “I knew them both personally, and William was always a controlling influence in her life, both personally, and from a business perspective. Everything that Chantal did when she was in the relationship with William was dictated by William.”
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Guy Smith's voice: Mark Horwitz is Chantal's lawyer. He says the jury also found the McCorkles guilty of money laundering; an offence in the US attracting a harsh mandatory sentence, designed to hit big time drug Dealers. So, with no discretion, the Judge here in Orlando was forced to use a complicated system of points. Each time money was transferred to another bank account, the years mounted.
Mark Horwitz: “I think it's an example of justice in America at it's worst. As I said to the Judge at the original sentencing, murderers get less time. Someone could bring in three freighters of marijuana and get less time. The Judge didn't want to hear it, and this is the result.”
Guy Smith's voice: There were allegedly few real victims. Just complaints about video quality and demands for refunds. Some customers actually made money. Chantal has lodged several appeals. Her conviction has been upheld, yet another decision on her sentence is now imminent. One recent case is providing hope. Her lawyer though, is not optimistic.
Mark Horwitz: “I have appeared before this Judge since the ‘Booker' decision and she has announced her intention to follow the guidelines - even though they are no longer mandatory. Given this Judge's sentencing history, I think the chances that she will sentence William and Chantal to the same sentence is pretty high.”
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Guy Smith (to camera outside Parliament in London): Back in London, and 127 MPs from all the main parties - that's around a fifth of Parliament here, have lent their support to Chantal McCorkle's case, urging the Government to put pressure on the US legal system.
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Guy Smith's voice (in the office of Alun Jones QC): A top British lawyer says the level of deception was slight.
Alun Jones QC: “Had this happened in this country, and there had been a trial - which is doubtful - I think it is probable that William McCorkle would have been convicted; that Chantal would have been acquitted: But, if she had been convicted, I don't think a Judge would have sentenced her to more than 18 months imprisonment, of which she'd have served 6 months and that sentence would have been suspended.”
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Chantal's mother's living room in Slough.
Chantal McCorkle's voice and picture on the television: “Hi mum and dad. I want to tell you first that I love you...”
Guy Smith's voice: Chantal's mother hasn't seen her for 6 months. We brought back this video message for her.
Diane Forrester (Chantal's mother): “This country has done nothing to help her get home. I've written to Tony Blair, I've seen Cherie Blair, and nobody is getting her... any ... .to help her get home.”
Guy Smith's voice: Chantal has since divorced William McCorkle. Her hopes now: the appeal is successful. Another option though; She's transferred back to the UK. If that fails, then political pressure for a Presidential Pardon could be her only chance.
Guy Smith's voice: Guy Smith, BBC London News in the United States.
Report Ends.