It's easy to see why insurance swindler Sholam Weiss was not entirely satisfied with a judge's decision to cut 10 years from his prison term.
Even after the reduction, Weiss still had 835 years to serve for his role in the collapse of a life insurance company in the 1990s that cost thousands of people their life savings.
Weiss is asking the Supreme Court for much more: his release from prison and return to Austria, where he was arrested nearly a year after he fled the United States during his criminal trial in Orlando, Fla. The justices could decide as early as Monday whether to hear his appeal.
The issue before the court is a complicated mix of a treaty that governs extraditions between the U.S. and Austria and the powers of federal judges. Weiss says the U.S. reneged on a promise to resentence him made in exchange for Austria's agreeing to send him back to the U.S. He also says the judge who cut his sentence lacked the authority to do so.
If he loses at the Supreme Court, Weiss still may be able to appeal his conviction and sentence, even though an appeals court had earlier ruled that he forfeited his appeal rights when he became a fugitive.
Weiss received what the Justice Department has said is likely the longest term ever imposed for a white-collar crime. By comparison, Bernie Madoff is serving 150 years in prison for his fraud scheme.
Weiss was among seven people who were convicted o
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