U.S. v. Lucas

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to 210-month term of incarceration on charge of brandishing firearm during course of violent crime that involved defendant's scheme to kidnap third-party. Ct. rejected defendant's claim that Dist. Ct. improperly calculated sentence as if defendant had pleaded guilty to dismissed charge of attempted kidnapping since Dist. Ct. could impose more severe sentence on basis of relevant conduct concerning commission of attempted kidnapping by preponderance of evidence. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could properly deny proposed three-level reduction under section 2X1.1 of USSG where defendant had committed all acts necessary to complete underlying offense of kidnapping and could properly look to fact that defendant was on conditional release at time of charged offense to apply sentence outside guideline range. Dist. Ct. also did not err in denying defendant's argument that reduced sentence was appropriate based on fact that defendant suffered from Asperger's Syndrome.