Judge rules federal prosecutors can seek death penalty against RI man charged in killing

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — A judge has ruled that federal prosecutors can seek the death penalty against a Rhode Island man charged in the killing of a gas station manager.

The Providence Journal reports (http://bit.ly/ZJPLw6 ) that U.S. District Judge William Smith rejected Jason Pleau's challenge to the constitutionality of the federal death penalty law last week. Smith said legal precedents allow the federal death penalty to be imposed in states like Rhode Island that don't have capital punishment.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee fought unsuccessfully to keep Pleau out of federal custody, citing the state's rejection of the death penalty.

Pleau and two other people are charged in the shooting death of 49-year-old gas station manager David Main during a robbery outside a Woonsocket bank in 2010. The others don't face the death penalty.

Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.providencejournal.com

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