Arizona authorities are seeking the stiffest possible sentence against former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen. He was convicted on fraud charges stemming from his operation of an illegal adoption scheme in three states involving women from the Marshall Islands.
Prosecutors haven’t specified the number of years in prison they’ll seek Friday at the second of three sentencing hearings for Petersen. He’s currently serving a 6-year sentence for an Arkansas conviction. Arizona prosecutors are seeking consecutive aggravated punishments -- a scenario that could amount to an 18-year sentence. Petersen wants five years or less and to be allowed to serve the sentence as he does time in the Arkansas case.
