Dist. Ct. did not err in imposing below-Guidelines, 28-year sentence on drug conspiracy charge, even though defendant argued that he should have only received mandatory minimum ten-year sentence because Mexican authorities tortured him before turning him over to U.S. authorities. Relevant guidelines called for life sentence, and Dist. Ct. provided sufficient explanation for imposing instant sentence after considering factors under section 3553(a) and accepting or rejecting arguments from both parties. Ct. rejected defendant’s claim that Dist. Ct. used either his own or defendant’s ethnicity in determining instant sentence. Ct. also rejected defendant’s claim that Dist. Ct. improperly relied on extraneous article about number of Mexican military personnel killed in war on drugs, where defendant did not object to Dist. Ct.’s reference to said article, and where defendant failed to show how said reference did adversely affected selection of sentence. Too, Ct. rejected defendant’s claim that Dist. Ct. should have recused himself under 28 USC section 455(a) for biased reasons, where: (1) defendant failed to object to any allegedly biased statements regarding defendant’s claims of torture; and (2) defendant failed to demonstrate that any alleged improper statements affected Dist. Ct.’s selection of instant sentence.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Sentencing