Opinion ID: 213536
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Negroni's Sentencing Hearing

Text: For Negroni, the District Court calculated a criminal history category of I and an offense level of 27, which included the six-level enhancement for 250 or more victims, based on Negroni's involvement in the Denver claim for the BankAmerica Class Action. Those calculations resulted in a Guidelines range of 70 to 87 months' imprisonment. Negroni argued for a downward variance, saying both that he had diminished capacity and that, due to a lack of guidance in his youth, he had developed an unhealthy reliance on Waltzer. To support those claims, Negroni submitted numerous letters from family and friends and reports from Dr. Thomas Kucharski, a psychologist who evaluated Negroni, and Lara Fastman, a therapist who had treated him. In letters to the Court, Negroni's brother and wife each described the abuse suffered by Negroni as a child and the lack of male supervision that led Negroni to bond with Waltzer and to look up to him as a father figure. Upon reviewing those letters and evaluating Negroni, Dr. Kucharski reported that as a result of substantial abuse and neglect [Negroni] suffers from and has suffered from since childhood serious psychological deficits and liabilities, which caused Negroni to form an intense dependent attachment to Mr. Waltzer. (App. at 289.) That attachment resulted in a naive trust in Mr. Waltzer, a strong need to please, low self esteem and a denigrating self appraisal, which strongly influenced Mr. Negroni's involvement with Mr. Waltzer in the instant offense. ( Id. ) Fastman's report made similar findings, diagnosing Negroni as having Dependent Personality Disorder, which resulted in an unhealthy attachment to [Waltzer], which prevented him from realizing [Waltzer's] lies and deceits and from questioning [Waltzer's] business plans. (App. at 286-87.) She concluded that Negroni's fear of being alone and without [Waltzer] led him to agree with things he felt wrong rather than risk losing the relationship. (App. at 287.) Negroni also submitted his own letter to the Court in which, despite his experts' assertions about Waltzer's unusual influence in his life, he purported to take full responsibility for [his] actions, stating that he, not Waltzer, was responsible for this mistake. (App. at 285.) After hearing the evidence and arguments, the Court considered the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and, while imposing sentence, said the following: I consider . . . the nature and circumstances of the offense. And in this particular case we have a massive criminal fraud scheme that resulted in a loss of over $40 million that was orchestrated by Kevin Waltzer. Mr. Negroni's role, albeit not minor, was limited to only a portion of the scheme and loss. He was involved in not only the fraud itself but also in money laundering. He was lured into this scam by his long-time friend, Waltzer, whom he knew from childhood and trusted as a brother. There was also two separate claims in this particular case, Mr. Negroni's alone and then the Denver Corporation later. He received money from both. I look at the history and characteristics of the defendant. And what I see is a 42-year old man who is married and the father of twins. That he is actively and intimately involved in the nurturing of his children. He had a disruptive and unstable childhood punctuated by violence. He has a dependent personality disorder, which makes him a follower rather than a leader. He is a college graduate who has no prior contact with the criminal justice system. He is physically well. He has depression, anxiety, which is really a result of his predicament caused by his involvement here. He certainly does not have a substantially reduced mental capacity as a result of his psychological disorder; nevertheless, it is there. He has been involved in various businesses and jobs over the years, with no real substantial income reported. He seems to be a dreamer, a fantasizer of what he can be when he grows up. He has worked as a stock trader on Wall Street businesses. Until I heard him today I was not so sure that he had accepted his responsibility. But I'm convinced that he has and is truly remorseful not only because he has gotten himself in this jam, because he recognizes that it was wrong. I consider the need to impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of the offenses as I have described it. To afford deterrence, promote respect for the law, and to protect the public from the defendant's further crimes. Mr. Negroni will never have any further contact with the criminal justice system. The damage to his reputation and what he has to do now to explain to his children what he has done, and what it means to his reputation are substantial in this case. I consider the need to provide him with needed educational, vocational training and correctional treatment in the most effective manner, the kind of sentences that are recommended, the sentencing ranges recommended, the pertinent policy statements issued by the sentencing commission, the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct and the need to provide the victims with restitution. Therefore the Defendant shall make restitution in the amount of $677,805.05, less credit for those amounts that he has deposited . . . The defendant is sentenced to a period of probation of five years with the first nine months to be served in home detention under electronic monitoring. (App. at 642-45.) Upon announcement of the sentence, the government objected to the variance from the Guidelines range of 70 months to home confinement as unreasonable. (App. at 645.) In response, the Court stated I thought you told me it would be somewhere under Mr. Hall, to which the government attorney replied, I said that he was less culpable than Mr. Hall . . . but I also objected to Mr. Hall's sentence as unreasonable. ( Id. ) The government has timely appealed the sentences of both Hall and Negroni.