Federal judge dismisses appeal of Indiana Township woman who killed FBI agent
An Indiana Township woman who fatally shot an FBI agent in 2008 was sentenced to 15 years and 10 months in prison based on an extensive plea negotiation that included her giving up her right to challenge that sentence, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in dismissing her appeal.
Christina Korbe, 47, shot and killed FBI Special Agent Sam Hicks as he lead a group of officers into her home to arrest her husband on drug charges. She pleaded guilty in January 2011 to voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm during a violent crime.
U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry sentenced her to five years and 10 months on the manslaughter charge and 10 years on the firearm charge.
Korbe contends that a Supreme Court ruling invalidating a provision of the 1984 Armed Career Criminal Act also invalidated a similar provision in the firearm charge.
The ruling makes her conviction and sentence on the firearm charge unconstitutional, and preventing her from appealing that part of her sentence would “work a miscarriage of justice,” Assistant Federal Public Defender Elisa Long said in court documents.
In return for her plea and the agreed-to sentence, Korbe escaped prosecution on several other charges, including the murder of a federal agent, Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti said in court documents.
“The government has complied with its promises under the plea agreement that it negotiated with defendant Korbe. She has not,” he said.
McVerry agreed with the government, saying Korbe understood the rights she was giving up when she pleaded guilty and the sentence she received wasn't based on a “stand-alone analysis” of the provision she's challenging in her appeal.
“Rather, it represented an extensively negotiated, global resolution of all of the charges against her,” the judge said in dismissing Korbe's appeal. “Indeed, given the facts of the case, the outcome could have been far less favorable to Korbe — she faced a possibility of life imprisonment.”
Holding her to the agreement is not a miscarriage of justice, McVerry said. Korbe is eligible for release in 2022.
Brian Bowling is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-325-4301 or bbowling@tribweb.com.
