Gruttadauria was originally charged with a combination of federal and state crimes which landed him a seven-year prison term. Cuyahoga County prosecutor Bill Mason says the former stock broker exploited a series of legal loopholes in his federal sentence that allowed him be be reassigned to a re-entry program at Oriana House, on East 55th street. But Mason made the argument to Judge Carolyn Friedland that there were no such escape clauses in the state charges.
Bill Mason: Under the federal system, he was given credit for going to drug treatment; for doing things that lessened his time to four and a half years. But, under the plea agreement, he agreed to do state and federal time together, and the 54 months doesn't come to an end until March of '08.
Mason adds that his office tried to convince Judge Friedland to tack on another month's-worth of time to compensate for the 28 days that Gruttadauria was at Oriana House, but she turned down that request. For his part, Gruttadauria says he's obeyed all the rules of the system and shouldn't be in prison. David C. Barnett, 90.3.