U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson has yet to rule on anything, but most of the reporters in the courtroom are already making the call that Mayor for Life (and Ward 8 D.C. Council member) Marion Barry won’t be sentenced to a single minute of jail time. Tom Sherwood and Jim Iovino at nbcwashington.com declared it to be so hours ago, and the City Paper’s Mike DeBonis has since reported that federal prosecutors have actually dropped their request to revoke Barry’s probation and send him to jail.

Turns out there is no facility, be it a halfway house or the D.C. Jail, with the proper medical facilities to care for Barry as he continues to recover from kidney transplant surgery. So the prosecutors are now asking that Barry’s probation be extended for another two years, with the first 30 days spent on home monitoring, as punishment for failing to file his 2007 federal tax returns on time. Barry’s lawyer has suggested that a one-year probation extension would be more appropriate.