Court upholds 70-year prison term for former Atco man
CAMDEN – A former Atco man who successfully appealed a 98-year prison term didn’t have the same luck the second time around.
A state appeals court has upheld the revised sentence — 70 years — given to Keith Cuff for a crime spree that included home invasion-robberies, kidnappings and weapons offenses.
The ruling maintains an August 2070 parole eligibility date for Cuff, 37.
The state Supreme Court in August 2019 ordered Cuff to be resentenced after he challenged his original term.
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The high court found Superior Court Judge Kathleen Delaney in Camden had properly imposed consecutive terms "for crimes committed in different criminal episodes." But it directed Delaney to reconsider consecutive sentence for three crimes that occurred during robberies.
And it said Delaney, in resentencing Cuff,, "should consider the fairness" of his penalty.
In his latest challenge, Cuff argued his new term, with a 57.9-year bar on parole eligibility, amounted to “a de facto life sentence that is excessive,” the appellate ruling said.
But it noted Delaney had followed the Supreme Court’s instructions in resentencing Cuff.
“We cannot say the resulting aggregate sentence shocks our judicial conscience given the multiple crimes committed by (Cuff)," the appeals court said.
Cuff was sentenced for 17 offenses that included home-invasion robberies in Cherry Hill, Gloucester Township and Winslow between June 2010 and May 2011.
The three-judge appeals court said Delaney, in resentencing Cuff, "undertook a detailed evaluation of the fairness of the overall sentence."
It said Delaney, in responding to a defense attorney's arguments, noted the trauma of a family whose teenage daughters were tied up during a home-invasion robbery by Cuff.
The girls' parents arrived home later and were also bound by Cuff, who had a gun.
Delaney, in resentencing Cuff, pointed out the family "had thereafter left the country and the mother could not even appear at the trial," the appeals court said.
Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Keith Cuff argued penalty for crime spree was 'de facto life sentence'
