Opinion ID: 566003
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Prior Sentencing

Text: 7 The initial sentencing calculation, based on a total offense level of 22 and a criminal history category of III, resulted in a sentencing range of 51 to 63 months. The probation department's Presentence Report (PSR), however, suggested several possible grounds for an upward departure, including (1) Uccio's conduct in kidnaping and assaulting Sarantopoulos in furtherance of the wire fraud scheme, and (2) the fact that Uccio had a prior conviction that, because of its age and the brevity of the sentence, was not included in the calculation of his criminal history. In addition, the court suggested a possible upward departure based on Uccio's tape recorded statements, introduced at trial, that he was involved in numerous other things with his people in New York, which the court inferred meant other criminal conduct. 8 In support of its suggestion for an upward departure based on the kidnaping and assault of Sarantopoulos, the PSR relied on Guidelines Sec. 5K2.4, which allows an upward departure where a person is abducted ... or unlawfully restrained to facilitate commission of the offense of conviction. In opposition, Uccio argued that Sec. 5K2.4 deals only with the abduction or unlawful restraint of victims of the underlying offense and that it was not the intent of the Guidelines to enhance punishment for violence against a coparticipant in the crime. The district court apparently agreed with Uccio, stating, 9 I will go along with you saying that[.] I think [Sec. 5K2.4] really talks about a situation in which you in essence kidnap a victim in some fashion or other in order to facilitate the crime, not in which there is a falling out among the people involved and one of them resorts to violence against the other in order to get him to do what he's supposed to do. I agree with that. 10 (Sentencing Transcript, February 5, 1990 (Feb. Tr.), at 12-13.) 11 The district court concluded, however, that an upward departure was warranted on the other suggested grounds, stating, in pertinent part, that 12 [b]ecause of the substantial record this defendant has, because of the apparent other activities that he was engaged in at the time, because of the violence that it [sic ] was associated with making sure that the scheme went forward, I think all of those factors warrant a sentence upward of the guideline. 13 (Feb. Tr. at 14-15.) Uccio was eventually sentenced principally to prison terms totaling 78 months, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.