Earlier today, French natural Sébastien Raoult learned his sentence in federal court in Seattle. Raoult, aka “Sezyo,” had been detained in Morocco as he prepared to fly home to France after a vacation. His detention in response to a Red Notice led to an intense extradition fight. Raoult’s counsel urged France to request Raoult be extradited to France to stand trial in France for crimes that he committed on French soil. For reasons that seemed more political than genuine, France, who had assisted the U.S. in its investigation into the crimes, claimed they had no case against Raoult. They declined to seek his extradition even though they arrested others with whom he allegedly conspired and then released them.
Raoult’s extradition fight also included his counsel, Philippe Ohayon, seeking the intervention of the United Nations Committee Against Torture. Ultimately, however, the U.S. persuaded Morocco to extradite Raoult, and he was arrested here on January 27, 2023. At the time, if one simply counted up the maximum sentences for each of the nine counts he faced, he was potentially facing more than 100 years in prison. That, of course, is absurd, but the threat of a long sentence in the U.S. was sufficiently daunting to Raoult and his family that he agreed to plead guilty to two charges: Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. Other charges were all dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Although the prosecution urged Judge Lasnick to sentence Raoult to six years in prison, the judge sentenced Raoult to 36 months in prison: 12 months for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge and 24 months to be served after that for the aggravated identity theft charge. Federal sentencing guidelines require that 24 months be served for aggravated identity theft and the time can not be served concurrently with any other part of the sentencing. Raoult was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release once he is out of prison, and he was sentenced to pay restitution of $5,058,419.73.
Although that may all sound somewhat grim, Raoult will also be credited with time served in Morocco detention and then time served in detention in the U.S. while awaiting trial. So he gets credit for about 8 months in Morocco, and then almost a year in the U.S. And then, of course, most prisoners do not serve their full sentence. If Raoult does not cause behavioral problems, he would likely only serve 85% of his sentence. So doing the math with credit for time served, Raoult might be out and on supervised release in about 10 months from now. Of note, Judge Robert S. Lasnik recommended Raoult serve his time in a facility on the east coast, presumably because it would enable his parents to fly to the U.S. from France to visit him more easily.
DataBreaches has remained in contact with Raoult’s father, Paul, since Sébastien’s detention in Morocco. DataBreaches reached out to him tonight to ask his reaction to the sentencing and Sébastien’s reaction. I am posting part of his response in the original French.
Nous somme plutôt soulagé par la sentence. Nous sommes passé de 116 ans à 3 ans. Le temps passé au Maroc et à Seattle seront décomptés et Sébastien devrait bénéficier de 5 mois de remise de peine pour bonne conduite. Il ne lui reste plus que 11 mois à faire et devrait pouvoir passer les fêtes de fin d’année 2024 à la maison.
Le juge a posé la question au Procureur de savoir pourquoi le jugement avait lieu en Amérique alors que les faits se sont passés en France ? La procureur n’a pas su quoi répondre .. elle a dit « parce que la France ne s’intéresse pas à ce genre de crime »
In translation, he states that they are relieved by the sentence because they have gone from 116 years to three years, and Sébastien will also be credited for time detained and for good conduct. He had not been able to speak with his son after the sentencing so he is not sure how feels but he imagines that he is quite relieved. Interestingly, Mr. Raoult added a note that the judge asked the prosecutor why this case was being tried in the U.S. instead of in France where the events took place. “The prosecutor did not know what to answer .. she said, “because France is not interested not to this kind of crime.”
That was an excellent question by the judge, and one that Raoult’s counsel had raised repeatedly in fighting extradition: the victims may have been in the U.S., but the alleged acts took place in France and France could have and should have tried him there. Even though Raoult’s sentence is not as draconian as some feared, had he been charged in France, what would the outcome have been there if one recalls that none of the others have been tried for their alleged roles.
For those who wish more details about the sentence, DataBreaches has uploaded the sentencing file below. 82d22e73-aeb3-4f8e-9a5b-27e13bab483a