Sentences Reduced for Cheating Scandal Figures

(CN) - Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter on Thursday reduced the sentences of three former educators convicted for their roles in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal.

The three educators - Tamara Cotman, Michael Pitts and Sharon Davis-Williams, all former regional directors with the school district -- were given the harshest sentences last month after Judge Baxter's urging that they reach a plea deal with prosecutors went unheeded.

All three saw their seven-year prison sentences for racketeering reduced to three years, and their post-jail probation time cut from 13 years to seven.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baxter scheduled today's resentencing hearing last week, explaining that he was not comfortable with the punishment he imposed on April 1.

Speaking from the bench today, Judge Baxter said that, "When a judge goes home and he keeps thinking over and over that something is wrong, something is usually wrong."

"I want to modify the sentence so I can live with it," he said. "I'm going to put myself out to pasture in the not too distant future and I want to be out to pasture without regrets."

The new sentences, Baxter said, are more in line with what he considers fair.

Cotman, Pitts and Davis-Williams were convicted of violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

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