‘The Last Straw’ : Judge Lets Tax Evader Off for Elevator Time

BOSTON â€”  Disgruntled courthouse workers applauded Friday a federal judge’s promise to give a man facing a 10-year prison term a sentence of two hours’ “time servedâ€� in the building’s broken elevator.

U.S. District Judge Walter Jay Skinner said the two hours an accused tax evader spent in a crowded elevator stuck between the courthouse’s seventh and eighth floors last week was punishment enough.

“I will order no more sentence than the time served in the elevator,� Skinner said after scheduling the man’s formal sentencing date. “This is really the last straw.�

The defendant, Joseph J. Silvano Jr., a Newton insurance broker, faced up to 10 years in jail and $110,000 in fines for failing to pay $53,000 in federal income taxes.

He staggered into Skinner’s 15th-floor courtroom breathing hard, bathed in sweat and with his shirt open, said Philip Lyons, Skinner’s clerk.

“He came over to plead guilty to a criminal charge and he couldn’t even get that far,� said Lyons, who himself has been a victim of the cantankerous elevator system.

“I always get stuck, or else it goes by your floor or you miss the floor by a foot or two and have to time your leap so you can get out,� Lyons said.

Last month, Lyons said, a judge and an entire jury were trapped in an elevator and had to climb through an escape hatch.

Frank Camacho, district head of the General Services Administration, which is responsible for maintenance of the 20-story McCormack Building, said he decided to take steps to remedy the problem after meeting with Skinner on Friday.