Saragosa fails justice system by delaying Mayweather’s sentence

This was Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa on Dec. 21: "I think a period of time in incarceration will send the right message to the community and to his children that, no matter who you are, you will have consequences to your actions that are appropriate when this level of violence is inflicted."

I guess she forgot the part about those consequences not meaning much when there is a big fight to stage.

I guess she forgot the part about why she was elected to the bench.

Saragosa on Friday granted a request to allow Floyd Mayweather Jr. to postpone the 90-day jail sentence she handed down after the boxing champion pleaded guilty in a domestic violence case, the one that included statements to police about his children watching him "hitting and kicking" their mother, the one where he reportedly told his sons "he would beat their asses if they left the house or called the police."

Nice.

Mayweather was scheduled to begin his sentence at the Clark County Detention Center on Friday and probably could have been out by March, as long as he didn't cause any problems or get caught tweeting more winning gambling slips (he never tweets his losers) and worked when asked alongside his fellow inmates in protective custody.

But that would have meant postponement of the May 5 date he has reserved at the MGM Grand for his next fight, because even 42-0 boxers need a good eight weeks to prepare to beat the snot out of Robert Guerrero or Saul Alvarez or whoever is next in line for Mayweather's team to assure their guy's record remains perfect.

Saragosa is now allowing Mayweather to report June 1, her reason being that the fighter has contractual obligations to fight on Cinco de Mayo.

How magnanimous of her.

It's true any Mayweather fight helps generate millions of dollars into the Las Vegas community, that such nights fill hotel rooms and restaurants and seats at casino tables. It's also true the Kentucky Derby is May 5 and local businesses are never hurting for patrons that particular weekend. I'm not sure Saragosa knows that, or if it matters.

But what she did Friday is reinforce the perception (reality) that Mayweather receives preferential treatment from the justice system because of his celebrity status and ability to pay attorneys who have more than earned their fees keeping him out of jail.

A judge's job in this case is to enforce the law, not determine what is best for a city's economic bottom line from sporting events. Saragosa made the correct decision in sentencing Mayweather to jail and should have upheld the scheduled reporting date instead of considering fight contracts and their monetary benefit to others.

As important as it might be for Las Vegas that those waitresses and dealers and cabbies and the like earn money on a megafight weekend, such financial issues should have no place in Saragosa's decision to delay a sentence. Once they do, the system appears a sham.

I assume if I pleaded guilty to the same charges as Mayweather and told Saragosa there were a few plane tickets in my name to cover UNLV basketball games the next two months, she would grant a request from my court-appointed attorney (my bank account can't roll with Floyd's choice of representation) for a similar delay.

I also assume you know I laughed my head off writing that last part.

All sorts of people sentenced to jail have jobs and commitments and, I assume, contractual obligations of some kind. Most aren't granted extensions on when to report, and almost all don't have Mayweather's money or entourage of enablers sitting in a courtroom while judges keep supporting that perception (reality).

Saragosa should have glanced one more time at the long list of violence/battery charges and incidents to have involved Mayweather since 2002. She should have stuck with her original reporting date of Friday, not because there aren't larger issues on a judge's daily docket than May 5 or June 1, but because her reasoning strengthened the idea that the entitled boxing champion does and gets what he wants, system be damned.

This was Saragosa on Friday: "Mr. Mayweather has an obligation to this court." But "given the fact that Mr. Mayweather has these obligations, I am going to grant your request."

I wish Mayweather's team would have in the last few weeks set a September date to fight Manny Pacquiao, a night that would arguably earn Las Vegas its largest economic windfall in boxing history. What would Saragosa have said then when "sending the right message to the community?"

Mayweather could report to jail in November ... December .... never?

Hey, he has managed to remain out of it to this point.

The perception (reality) lives on.

Ain't justice grand?

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.