the CSB repeatedly intervened in an effort to protect Ciarah and her siblings, Ciarah still suffered extensive trauma as a child. At age five, Ciarah was sexually abused. A physical examination revealed scarring on her vulva and the doctor suspected anal penetration. Ciarah also had gonorrhea, a disease that is transmitted through sexual contact with a person infected with the disease. A relative reported to a CSB social worker that Ciarah’s mother, Tonya, “tried to sell her once,” meaning that Tonya had offered sexual contact with Ciarah in exchange for drugs. An earlier incident of sexual abuse by a cousin was also substantiated by the CSB. Ciarah’s mother was a prostitute, and Ciarah saw her mother perform sexual acts with men. In addition to the sexual abuse Ciarah suffered, the CSB records confirm physical abuse. One report stated that Ciarah and her brother were locked in a room at night and made to urinate in a bucket. Ciarah and her siblings were in and out of foster care. When not in foster care, Ciarah and her mother were homeless at times and lived in a car. On at least two occasions, Ciarah returned home to find that her mother was gone and could not be located. At age fifteen, Ciarah was placed at the Lincoln Behavioral Center in Youngstown, Ohio. Past residents of the Lincoln Behavioral Center have provided horrific descriptions of the abuse they suffered at the institution. In an article about the Lincoln Behavioral Center, one individual said that the “living environment was not fit for a rat to live in.” Another mentioned that the residents did not have coats to wear in the winter. A former resident posted a comment on the article stating, “This place was terrible and you literally had to fight for your survival every day.” Another woman said that she was “beaten and molested and hurt by the girls and residents there on a daily bases [sic].” Another woman stated that she was “stabbed, beated [sic] and verbally abused.”
The so-called “war on drugs” has failed miserably. The ‘war on drugs’ in numbers: a systematic failure of policy, The Guardian (April 19, 2016). Harsh law enforcement action against those involved in drug production, distribution, and use has not led to an market for drugs. “War on Drugs,” Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy (June 2011) at p. 4. Sentencing Ciarah within or near the advisory guideline range will not deter others and will not diminish drug trafficking. It is the certainty of apprehension and not the severity of the legal consequences ensuing from apprehension that is an effective deterrent. United States v. Walker, --- F.Supp.3d ---, 2017 WL 2198194 at *20 (D. Utah 2017), citing Daniel S. Nagin, Deterrence in the Twenty-First Century, Crime and Justice in America:1975-2025, at p. 202 (2013). “[T]he deterrent value of a sentence is at its highest when the chances of its being administered are high and the offender is able to rationally consider the consequences of his or her actions. It appears to be primarily in the certainty of punishment, not its severity, that deterrent power lies.” United States v. Bannister, 786 F.Supp.2d 617, 660 (E.D.N.Y. 2011). Ciarah has not previously served a term of imprisonment. A five-year term of imprisonment is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to impress upon her the need to conform her conduct to the law. A sentence longer than five years is not necessary to prevent Ciarah from harming the public. Ciarah is not a violent offender who needs to be removed from society. “Generally speaking, a lesser sentence will suffice to deter a defendant not previously subject to lengthy incarceration than is necessary to deter a defendant who has already served serious time yet continues to re-offend. United States v. Dikiara, 50 F.Supp.3d 1029, 1033 (E.D.Wis. 2014). E. Conclusion