NEW YORK (AP) - A New York federal appeals court says a judge went over the line by banning a man from drinking alcohol for four years.
Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jose Cabranes says in an opinion released Wednesday the alcohol ban imposed on Jeffrey Betts was unrelated to his crime and was unreasonable.
A judge in Buffalo ordered the alcohol ban in 2016. The judge added it to a 10-month prison sentence for Betts’ violation of the conditions of his release after a bank fraud conspiracy conviction.
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Prosecutors had argued the ban was reasonable. They said Betts engaged in “weekly binge drinking” from age 19 to age 30, consuming up to seven shots of tequila with friends on weekends.
Betts’ lawyers say there’s no evidence he abused alcohol and it was wrong to ban him from drinking.
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