Federal Judiciary

United States v. Ramirez, No. 09 Cr. 751 (RWS), 2009 WL 4722237 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 4, 2009)

Ramirez was convicted of illegal re-entry after deportation following conviction for criminal sle of a crontrolled substance in the second degree, for which he faced an advisory Guidelines range of imprisonment of between 41 and 51 months.  He was sentence, however, to only 18 months imprisonment because: (1) of the disparity in the sentences imposed for illegal re-entry cases in jurisdictions that have and that do not have fast-track programs; and (2) his advisory Guidelines range "double counts his criminal history, using his prior convictions not only to enhance his criminal history category but also to increase his offense level threefold."  Indeed, the court noted that there's no sense in increasing a defendant's penalty "twice" based on prior criminal conduct -- a practice that is arbitrary.