Opinion ID: 1304600
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Savoca's Sentence is Substantively Reasonable

Text: The court shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary to reflect the seriousness of the offense ...; ... to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct; ... to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and ... to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). A sentence is reviewed for its reasonableness, and this Court asks whether the sentencing judge exceeded the bounds of allowable discretion[,] committed an error of law in the course of exercising discretion, or made a clearly erroneous finding of fact. United States v. Fernandez, 443 F.3d 19, 27 (2d Cir.2006) (alterations in original). Savoca argues that the sentence of 190 months was more than necessary to account for the stated factors, and, given his difficult personal history, it is substantively unreasonable. However, [a] sentencing judge has very wide latitude to decide the proper degree of punishment for an individual offender and a particular crime. United States v. Cavera, 550 F.3d 180, 188 (2d Cir.2008) (en banc). Here, the sentencing judge imposed a sentence within the properly calculated guideline range, which is typically considered to be within the broad range of sentences that would be reasonable in the particular circumstances. Fernandez, 443 F.3d at 27. Afterward, the judge indicated that he imposed a sentence that he considered reasonable, and stated that even if the guideline range turned out to be lower I would have given the same sentence that I did today. The judge stated that the facts of this crime were particularly egregious given that Savoca chose to rob, shoot and then literally left on the driveway to die a friend. Since the judge clearly appreciated the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), we conclude that Savoca's sentence was substantively reasonable. Savoca's argument fails.