Opinion ID: 629118
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Patriarca's Appeal

Text: 51 Patriarca appeals from the district court's upward departure under U.S.S.G. Sec. 4A1.3 and from the district court's imposition of the costs of incarceration and supervision under U.S.S.G. Sec. 5E1.2(i). Our holding that the district court must resentence Patriarca on the basis of his relevant conduct moots the issue of the propriety of the court's upward departure. The district court departed upwards under Sec. 4A1.3 on the basis of its finding that the government had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Patriarca had aided and abetted drug crimes committed by Salvatore Michael Caruana from 1981 to 1983. Patriarca, 807 F.Supp. at 170. Because on remand the court will decide if the Caruana conspiracy is relevant conduct for RICO sentencing purposes, its utilization as a basis for upward departure need not be considered here, and is vacated. 52 For similar reasons, we must reject Patriarca's challenge to his cost-of-imprisonment fine. As part of his sentence, the district court ordered Patriarca to pay a fine of $50,000 pursuant to U.S.S.G. Sec. 5E1.2(c), plus $122,344 for the cost of his imprisonment, and $3,954 for the cost of his supervision. Patriarca, 807 F.Supp. at 210. The later portion of the fine was assessed pursuant to U.S.S.G. Sec. 5E1.2(i), which states the following: 53 Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) [the minimum-maximum fine table] of this section, but subject to the provisions of subsection (f) [the defendant's ability to pay] herein, the court shall impose an additional fine amount that is at least sufficient to pay the costs to the government of any imprisonment, probation, or supervised release ordered. 54 U.S.S.G. Sec. 5E1.2(i). Patriarca contends that the Sentencing Reform Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(a), does not authorize imposition of a fine to recompense the government for the cost of incarceration or supervised release, and Sec. 5E1.2(i) is therefore invalid. 55 The few circuit courts to have addressed this question agree that the Sentencing Reform Act does not authorize the assessment of a fine solely to pay for the costs of a defendant's imprisonment. United States v. Spiropoulos, 976 F.2d 155, 165-69 (3d Cir.1992); United States v. Hagmann, 950 F.2d 175, 187 n. 29 (5th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 108, 121 L.Ed.2d 66 (1992). They disagree, however, as to whether Sec. 5E1.2(i) can be justified on other grounds. Compare United States v. Turner, 998 F.2d 534 (7th Cir.1993) (costs of confinement reflect seriousness of the crime and increase deterrence) and Hagmann, 950 F.2d at 187 (the uniform practice of fining criminals on the basis of their individualistic terms of imprisonment--an indicator of the actual harm each has inflicted upon society--is a rational means to assist the victims of crime collectively) with Spiropoulos, 976 F.2d at 168 (The cost of imprisoning a defendant has little, if anything, to do with the amount that the defendant has harmed his or her victim(s), and is therefore questionable as an appropriate method of restitution.); see United States v. Doyan, 909 F.2d 412, 416 (10th Cir.1990) (Whether the purpose of the contested fine is to punish, deter, or to spare the taxpayers a substantial expense that has been generated by an intentional criminal act, we cannot say that Guideline Sec. 5E1.2(i) as applied here bears no rational relation to the legitimate governmental interest in criminal justice.). The government here argues that Sec. 5E1.2(i) is merely a means of achieving the clearly authorized purpose of punishing a defendant based on the seriousness of his or her offense. 56 We do not find it appropriate to answer this question at the present time. First, Patriarca did not object to his cost-of-imprisonment fine at the time of sentencing. Hence, the district court had no reason to focus on the issue, and we lack the benefit of its considered views. Absent plain error, we normally will not consider an issue raised for the first time on appeal. See United States v. Newman, 982 F.2d 665, 672 (1st Cir.1992), petition for cert. filed, 61 U.S.L.W. 3751 (U.S. April 22, 1993) (No. 92-1703); United States v. Haggert, 980 F.2d 8, 11 (1st Cir.1992); United States v. Mondello, 927 F.2d 1463, 1468 (9th Cir.1991) (refusing to consider argument not raised below that the fine provisions of the Guidelines are contrary to statutory authorization). Because the fine issue is one which has divided our sister circuits, we cannot see that the district court's alleged error in assessing the Sec. 5E1.2(i) fine was a plain one within the meaning of Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). See United States v. Olano, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 1777, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993). 57 In addition, our decision that Patriarca must be resentenced taking into account uncharged relevant conduct requires that we also vacate the fine portion of Patriarca's sentence. Should the district court on remand determine that Patriarca must be sentenced at a higher base offense level, his minimum and maximum fine range under Sec. 5E1.2(c) will likewise increase. Moreover, Patriarca's cost of imprisonment necessarily depends upon the length of his confinement. On remand, Patriarca can argue that a cost-of-imprisonment fine under Sec. 5E1.2(i) is inconsistent with the Sentencing Reform Act. Should the district court reject the argument and Patriarca again appeal from the fine, that will be the appropriate time for this court to decide the question. Presently, however, because we must vacate the fine and because Patriarca did not raise the issue below--hence failing to bring the claimed error to the district court's attention for focused consideration--we find it inappropriate to decide whether Sec. 5E1.2(i) is valid.