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During his child pornography trial, Josh Duggar was often spotted walking out of the courtroom with a big smile on his face.
Sources close to the disgraced reality star say that he maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings and remained confident that he would be acquitted.
Thankfully, justice was served, and Josh was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison.
But the Duggars haven’t given up hope …
Up next forJosh is the appeals process, which could lead to a second trial.
His lawyers announced at his sentencing that they had already begun putting together a new defense, and sure enough, one week later, on June 3, they filed their request.
“Duggar respectfully provides notice of his intent to evaluate and pursue any and all meritorious arguments in his appeal,” the attorneys wrote.
For many, the idea that Josh could wind up going free after just a few months behind bars is a deeply frightening one.
But if he’s granted a new trial, there’s a distinct possibility that he’ll be acquitted.
Of course, everything will depend on the strength of the new argument and new evidence that his lawyers present in their second attempt to secure the freedom of their obviously guilty client.
And one legal expert says their case is just as flimsy as it was the first time.
Speaking with Us Weekly, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani says that Josh “doesn’t really have a good defense” for his appeal.
In this case, the public consensus aligns with the opinion of legal experts, who say that Josh’s guilt is obvious thanks to long history of predatory failure and his failure to effectively cover his tracks.
“I mean, these images were on his HP laptop computer, there’s a digital paper trail that shows that he’s on the internet downloading these images,” Rahmani adds (via OK! magazine).
Josh’s lawyers are also appealing the length of his sentence, arguing that the judge demonstrated bias when he condemned the former TLC star to 12 and a half years behind bars.
But Rahmani says that most offenders in Josh’s position would have received a similar sentence.
“The government did ask for the max [in this case], but 12 and a half years is consistent with how judges across the country are sentencing these cases,” she explains.
Rahmani added that the terms of his sentence require Josh to remain behind bars for 85 percent of those 151 months.
That means he’ll be eligible for parole in just over 10 years.
Perhaps after his appeal fails, Josh and his family will finally come to terms with the fact that he’s gonna be locked up until well into the 2030s.
But more likely, they’ll continue praying for a miracle and insisting that he’s been framed by the Biden administration.
In the warped minds of Josh’s wife and parents, God works miracles for convicted sex offenders, and the truly depraved individuals are not the ones who prey on children, but rather people who don’t share their political views.
There’s nothing that could convince Josh’s supporters that he actually committed the crimes of which he’s been convicted.
And that delusional enabling is what allowed him to get away with so much for so long.
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