Ex-judge's regrets could help cut sentence of drug kingpin

The guidelines were amended in 2014 and now recommend a prison sentence of 30 years to life.

"Because I view sentences of life imprisonment appropriate only for those so depraved and dangerous that they constitute an ongoing danger to the public and are incapable of reformation, I would have sentenced Mr. Whethers to something short of a life sentence," Cindrich wrote in the letter defense attorney Adam Cogan filed with the court earlier this year.

Whethers' life sentence stems from his federal drug conviction, but he also pleaded no contest to separate state court charges, including third-degree murder, in the June 1993 beating death of Michael Lucas, of Monessen.

According to court documents, Whethers' underlings fatally beat Lucas because they believed he had stolen more than 2 pounds of cocaine from them.