Source: http://openjurist.org/225/f3d/92/united-states-v-jose-santo-federico
Timestamp: 2015-11-30 06:39:29
Document Index: 98585607

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 846', '§ 841', '§ 1001', '§ 1542', '§ 841', '§ 1']

225 F3d 92 United States v. Jose Santo Federico | OpenJurist
225 F. 3d 92 - United States v. Jose Santo Federico HomeFederal Reporter, Third Series225 F.3d
225 F3d 92 United States v. Jose Santo Federico 225 F.3d 92 (1st Cir. 2000)
UNITED STATES, Appellee,v.JOSE SANTO a/k/a FEDERICO, Defendant, Appellant.
No. 99-1899
Heard June 8, 2000Decided September 15, 2000
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS. Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge. Hon. Robert B. Collings, U.S. Magistrate Judge.
Jonathan R. Saxe with whom Twomey & Sisti Law Offices was on brief for appellant.
Michael J. Pelgro, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Donald K. Stern, United States Attorney, James B. Farmer, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Criminal Division, Stephen P. Heymann, Assistant United States Attorney, Deputy Chief, Criminal Division, and Michael J. Pelgro, Assistant United States Attorney, were on brief for appellee.
Defendant-appellant Jose Santo pled guilty to drug conspiracy and other charges after being told -- incorrectly, as it turned out -- that he faced a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of only five years. Later, upon determining that Santo was responsible for more drugs than was initially contemplated, the district court sentenced him subject to the ten-year mandatory minimum applicable to the greater drug quantity. Santo contends that the court's understatement of the mandatory minimum penalty rendered his guilty plea involuntary, as the error both violated an express provision of Fed. R. Crim. P. 11 requiring advice as to the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law and also affected his substantial rights. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1) and (h). We agree, and allow Santo to withdraw his plea.
On December 3, 1998, Santo and three co-defendants were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin, 21 U.S.C. § 846, and the distribution of heroin, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Santo was also charged with making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and making false statements in a passport application, 18 U.S.C. § 1542. Thereafter, Santo signed a plea agreement with the United States Attorney, in which he agreed to plead guilty to all the counts against him in the indictment and admitted that he was, in fact, guilty of each of these offenses.1
The sentencing recommendations made by the parties and their respective calculations under the Sentencing Guidelines are not binding upon the U.S. Probation Office or the sentencing judge. Within the maximum sentence which Santo faces under the applicable law, the sentence to be imposed is within the sole discretion of the sentencing judge. Santo's plea will be tendered pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(e)(1)(B). Santo may not withdraw his plea of guilty regardless of what sentence is imposed. Nor may Santo withdraw his plea because the U.S. probation office or the sentencing judge declines to follow the Sentencing Guidelines calculations or recommendations of the parties.
On April 22, 1999, the district court conducted a change of plea hearing pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 11 for Santo and one of his co-defendants. The parties filed the abovementioned written plea agreement with the court. The district court explained the nature of the charges and the rights that Santo was giving up by pleading guilty. Santo, who participated in the hearing via an interpreter, responded that he understood.
Now let's talk about what may happen here if you plead guilty. When Congress passes a law they pass a maximum possible sentence. And the maximum sentence here for the crime of distribution of heroin is twenty years in prison . . . On the conspiracy charges, because the government in your case, Mr. Santo, says more drugs are attributable to you, the maximum sentence is potentially -well, the maximum sentence is, the maximum, forty years in prison . . . and I have to give you five years in prison, there's a mandatory minimum sentence.
Santo stated that his plea was based on no inducements other than the plea agreement. The district court found that Santo knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily exercised his right to plead guilty. Before accepting Santo's plea, the court stated: "Understand, now, if you plead guilty there is no taking it back or starting over." On or around June 28, 1999, the United States Probation Office provided Santo's counsel with a copy of the pre-sentence report (PSR) pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(b)(6)(A). Probation found Santo responsible for 1000 to 6000 grams of heroin, rather than the 100 to 400 grams contemplated in the plea agreement and at the Rule 11 hearing. Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846, these increased drug amounts raised Santo's mandatory penalties from five years minimum and forty years maximum to ten years minimum and life maximum. In addition, they raised Santo's offense level to 33. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3. Applying a criminal history category of III, probation recommended a sentence of 168 to 210 mont