Expensive Time

Pay-as-you-go criminal?

According to his lawyers, Peter L. Krutschewski, 35, was "the most decorated helicopter pilot of the Viet Nam War" and "the oil genius of Michigan." According to federal prosecutors, he was also a big-time narcotics importer who smuggled $15 million worth of marijuana from Colombia to Gloucester, Mass., in 1975. During his trial in U.S. district court in Boston last year, Krutschewski did not deny the charges, but asked to be acquitted on grounds that he was temporarily insane, a delayed reaction to the stress of combat. His effort failed and Krutschewski, who runs an oil and gas exploration company in Lansing, Mich., which the judge insisted was started with smuggling profits, was sentenced to ten years in prison and fined the maximum $60,000. To win his freedom, the wealthy veteran proposed an unusual deal: he would donate $1.75 million to convict-rehabilitation programs and 30 hours a week to helping mental patients during four years of probation.

The proposal touched off a storm of criticism. Argued Martin D. Boudreau of the U.S. Attorney's Strike Force Against Organized Crime: "It would further encourage persons engaged in criminal activity to set aside a nest egg for the rainy day they are caught and brought to justice." In a Boston Globe you-play-the-judge poll, readers voted more than 3 to 1 to send Krutschewski to jail. But a juror who convicted him, Rachel Holmes, was sympathetic: "It would be wonderful if he could serve the community."

Last week the real jurist decided his course of action. At least indirectly, Federal District Court Judge Walter Jay Skinner had encouraged the idea. After handing down the tough sentence last fall, he had promised Krutschewski's lawyers that he would consider any sensible alternative sentence stripping the veteran of his tainted wealth. But the defense proposal failed to satisfy Skinner. In a 13-page decision, he concluded that the payment, large as it might be, would not be a great enough deterrent to stop the smuggling along the New England coast. Skinner also worried about the scheme's inherent discrimination: only the most financially successful criminals could afford to buy themselves out of jail.

Krutschewski, who is free on $50,000 bail awaiting an appeal, took the judge's rejection in stride. "I'm sad about his ruling," said the entrepreneur, "but he's got a job to do like anybody else." qed

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