U.S. v. Perez

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to concurrent terms of 336 months and 120 months in prison on RICO charge and possession of firearm by felon charge, respectively, even though defendant argued that Dist. Ct. incorrectly held that attempted murder of former gang member predicate offense for RICO violation increased maximum penalty on said count to life imprisonment under 18 USC section 1963(a). Dist. Ct, could properly find that RICO violation, which was based on act of racketeering that is punishable by life imprisonment under state law, i.e., discharge of firearm in attempted murder, raised applicable maximum penalty from 20 years to life imprisonment under section 1963(a). Ct. also rejected defendant’s argument that Dist. Ct. committed procedural error by failing to consider defendant’s argument regarding need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities with similarly-situated defendants, where Ct. noted that Dist. Ct. was not required to consider said argument, since instant sentence was within or below properly calculated Guidelines range.