Opinion ID: 215505
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sentencing Procedure and Substantive Reasonableness

Text: We turn now to the defendants' argument that the court erred with respect to the sentences themselves, and we first address the procedural questions. As a threshold matter, no one argues that the district court improperly calculated the guidelines range. [9] And we do not credit the argument that the defendants have raisedthat the district court inadequately justified its imposition of an above-guidelines sentence. It is clear that the district court was concerned with the lack of incremental punishment for conspiracy in the sentencing guidelines. The court stated: The Guidelines in this case ... are deficient in that they do not account for multiple dogs, multiple fights, or the injuries that the dogs suffered. Under the Guidelines, if you had one dog, one fight, you are looking at the same Guideline range as if you had 100 and 100 fights and they all had to be euthanized.... That simply does not make sense because there is no incremental punishment. There are no specific offense characteristics in the guidelines that allow for enhancements regarding the length of the conspiracy, the number or circumstances surrounding the actual fights, or as I said, the number of dogs involved. Likewise, there is no enhancement for being a facilitator or sponsor of the fight[.] The district court's sentencing decisions were clearly informed by its concern about the inadequacy of the guidelines and the factors it believed were important but ignored. The court tallied the total number of dogs attributed to each defendant, as well as the number of those that had to be euthanized. The court also kept track of the number of dog fights in which the defendants participated, and the approximate duration of the defendants' involvement in dog fighting. The court discussed, where applicable, the leadership role of each defendant in the dog fighting enterprise. Finally, the court considered sentences imposed in the Eastern District of Missouri for other participants in the same conspiracy, with an eye toward avoiding unwarranted disparities. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6). While we express no opinion on the district court's apparent belief that the guidelines are per se deficient with respect to large dog fighting conspiracies, we agree that the court's sentencing considerations were proper, and together constituted permissible rationale for imposing an above-guidelines sentence. The number of dogs, the number of fights, the defendant's leadership role in the criminal enterprise and the duration of the misconduct can surely be considered part of the nature and circumstances of the offense of conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1). And of course, the court's assessment of the § 3553 factors is the proper basis for any above-guidelines sentence. See Dean, 414 F.3d at 730-31 ([T]he guidelines, being advisory, can be trumped by section 3553(a), which as we have stressed is mandatory.). [10] We must address one defendant's case individually. No one contests that the court appropriately applied the extraordinary cruelty departure described in U.S.S.G. § 2E3.1, application note 2, to Addison in connection with his electrocuting a defeated dog. But Addison argues that he received a longer sentence than a non-appealing co-conspirator who participated in the same electrocution. This is unpersuasive. The other co-conspirator was a comparatively peripheral member of the conspiracy. In particular, he apparently did not own or breed fighting dogs. There is nothing per se improper about a sentencing disparity among co-conspirators, or even between the two of seven to whom a specific departure provision applies. See generally United States v. Gooden, 564 F.3d 887, 891 (7th Cir.2009) (We do not view the `discrepancy between sentences of co-defendants as a basis for challenging a sentence' and will disturb a sentence only if it creates an unwarranted sentence disparity between similar defendants nationwide.) (citing United States v. Omole, 523 F.3d 691, 700 (7th Cir.2008)); United States v. Simpson, 337 F.3d 905, 909 (7th Cir.2003) ([A] disparity among co-defendants' sentences is not a valid basis to challenge a guideline sentence otherwise correctly calculated.) (citing United States v. Simmons, 218 F.3d 692, 696 (7th Cir.2000)). [11] Having reviewed each defendant's sentence and the court's rationale for imposing an above-guidelines sentence, we conclude that the court properly justified its sentences. The defendants' argument of substantive unreasonableness, which we review for an abuse of discretion, see United States v. Miller, 601 F.3d 734, 739 (7th Cir.2010), is equally unavailing. It is true that the brevity of the sentences recommended in the guidelines enables the defendants to complain that their actual sentences are an impressive multiple of guidelines recommendations. This is not irrelevant, but it is also relevant that the amounts by which the sentences exceeded the guidelines were not extreme when viewed in absolute terms. Defendant Addison received the greatest above-guidelines increment in absolute terms, an overage of 18 months, and that was partly based on a finding that he qualified for an extraordinary cruelty departure under U.S.S.G. § 2E3.1, application note 2, for electrocuting a defeated dog. In view of the court's justifications as discussed above, we do not consider the district court to have abused its discretion by imposing substantively unreasonable sentences. In fact, overall we believe the sentencing judge did a highly commendable job in dealing with a crime not well known to him or to large sectors of the public. For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the judgments of the district court.