Opinion ID: 795717
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reasonableness of Defendant Lupo's Sentence

Text: 85 Lupo claims that his sentence is unreasonable in light of Booker because the district court did not properly analyze and consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors in enhancing Lupo's sentence, and because the district court ignored Lupo's request for a departure from the advisory Guidelines sentencing range on the basis of the ill health of Lupo's parents, and Lupo's role as their sole caretaker. 86 Lupo's PSI recommended a base offense level 10, with a 2 level enhancement because the offense involved more than one bribe, and a 14 level enhancement because the loss involved more than $400,000. There was also a 2 level enhancement for Lupo's leadership role, and another 2 level enhancement for obstruction of justice, yielding a total adjusted offense level of 30. Since Lupo had no criminal history, this left him with a recommended Guidelines sentencing range of 97 to 121 months. 87 At Lupo's sentencing hearing, the district court indicated that in arriving at Lupo's sentence, it had taken into account the recommended Guidelines as well as the § 3553(a) factors: 88 The Court recognizes that without mandatory guidelines, the imposition of a sentence is governed by factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The Court has reflected on and considered all those factors, including the nature and circumstances of the offense, the deterrent effect with which the defendant — with respect to the defendant, the deterrent effect as it may impact on others, and the appropriate punishment. 89 (J.A. at 2115.) The district court then individually considered the application of each suggested enhancement, and made the following remarks in sentencing Lupo: 90 18 U.S.C. § 3553 states that this Court in determining the particular sentence to impose shall consider the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant. The Court believes that in considering the nature and circumstances of the offense, the Court can take into consideration defendant's involvement in the offense. 91 In determining the sentence, if the guidelines were applicable and if the Court considers the offense level for the crime which I believe is ten, adding to that the 14 for the loss and two more for one bribe, results in an offense level of 26, criminal history one, which I believe is a range of 63 to 78 months. If the Court enhances two levels for the role of the offense and another two levels for obstruction of justice, that brings the offense level to 30, criminal history one, resulting in a guideline range of 96 to 121 months. Essentially, those two factors under the guidelines, if they were applicable, would increase the minimum sentence by approximately 34 months. 92 In viewing the defendant's role, the Court does not believe that — and the defendant's participation in the obstruction of justice, the Court does not believe that an additional 34 months is necessarily appropriate. The Court does not believe in this particular case that a 34-month increase for that conduct is necessary or even appropriate to arrive at an appropriate sentence. 93 The Court believes that it would be reasonable to increase the defendant's sentence from the minimum 63 months without those two factors, increase by an additional 17 months, which would bring it to a sentence of 80 months. 94 The Court believes that a sentence of 80 months in this case does fit the factors considered in 18 U.S.C. Section 3553. The Court is satisfied that it's an appropriate punishment. The Court is satisfied that the sentence is sufficient to deter others. I don't believe any sentence is necessary to deter Mr. Lupo, but it is important that we deter others. 95 (J.A. at 2117-19.) The district court ultimately imposed a sentence of 80 months imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years supervised release. The district court reiterated its belief that the amount of loss attributable to Lupo was at least $400,000. After considering Lupo's circumstances and the amounts paid by the other indictees, however, the district court ordered that Lupo pay restitution in the amount of $300,000 — the same amount ordered to be paid by Contesti. (J.A. at 2123, 2125.) 96 We do not consider Lupo's sentence to be unreasonable in light of Booker. As these excerpts from the sentencing hearing reveal, the district court carefully considered the relevant § 3553(a) factors — including the nature and circumstance of the offense, and the need for deterrence. The district court was aware of the advisory nature of the Guidelines, and declined to apply the obstruction of justice and leadership role enhancement, even though it acknowledged that it would be bound to apply such an enhancement under a mandatory scheme 7 . Under the advisory scheme, however, the district court felt that an additional 34 months was not appropriate to meet the requirements of § 3553(a) and gave Lupo a smaller enhancement. 97 Lastly, in terms of Lupo's argument that the district court ignored Lupo's role as caretaker of his parents, we are not persuaded that Lupo is entitled to a remand on this basis. In his sentencing memorandum, Lupo requested that he be granted a downward departure from the advisory Guidelines, based, singly or cumulatively, on [Lupo's] age and poor health, the poor health of his parents and his role as their sole caretaker, his status as a former law enforcement officer, which will render his incarceration more difficult than the average inmate, and his history of giving time to charitable activities and community service. (J.A. at 291-92.) In support of this request, Lupo submitted five letters from doctors related to his health and the health of his parents, evidence of community service awards he had received, and twenty-nine character letters. (J.A. at 295-96.) During the sentencing hearing, the district court responded to Lupo's request for departure: 98 First of all, the defendant's request for departure; the court declines the request for departure. The Court is satisfied that if the guidelines were applicable the reasons counsel argued for a departure would not, in this Court's opinion, be appropriate. I don't think they are things that fall outside the heartland and justify a departure. But more importantly, even if the Court had the authority to depart on those bases, the Court would not depart for the reasons requested by defense counsel. 99 Those factors are important, I don't mean to minimize them, and they are factors the Court may well take into consideration as it decides where in the guideline range that the sentence should be imposed, but I do not believe that they would warrant a departure. And as a couple of the Courts have talked about now, the appropriate word may be deviation. In other words, the Court will not deviate based upon those factors. 100 (J.A. at 2112.) 101 In the recently decided case, United States v. Vonner, 452 F.3d 560, 567-68 (6th Cir.2006), we indicated that where a defendant has raised a specific claim as to why a lower sentence should be imposed, meaningful appellate review requires that the district court record indicate not only that the district court considered the defendant's argument but it must also explain why the district court decided to reject that argument. In other words, it must be clear from the record that the district court considered all the arguments before it in reaching its ultimate sentencing determination. Id. at 568. 102 We believe that the record in the present case indicates that the district court considered Lupo's arguments for departure, but that the district court was not persuaded that those arguments warranted a lower sentence. The district court acknowledged Lupo's request and the fact that those issues are meaningful, but specifically declined to grant Lupo a lower sentence on those grounds, stating that it did not think that granting Lupo a lower sentence on the basis of such factors would be appropriate. Furthermore, the district court indicated that it would be taking Lupo's situation into consideration when deciding where, within the advisory Guidelines sentencing range, to sentence Lupo. We therefore cannot agree with Lupo that the district court ignored the ill health of his parents, nor can we say that Lupo is entitled to a remand on these grounds, where it seems clear that the district court considered all the factors on the record, and indicated how those matters would affect the district court's ultimate sentencing decision. 103 Overall, we are persuaded that the district court's sentence was reasonable in light of the requirements of Booker, and that there was no problem with any of the enhancements or the district court's consideration of the § 3553(a) factors in light of the arguments raised by Defendant Lupo. 104