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Federal Judiciary

: Second Circuit Sentencing Blog

Guest Blogger: Paula Notari On Sentencing And The Crack/Powder Ratio

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I've received the following report from Paula Notari (paulanotari@aol.com) on a recent sentencing she handled before the Honorable Dora L. Irizarry in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in United States v. Dunbar, No. 08-CR-187 (E.D.N.Y. April 21, 2010). In sum and notwithstanding pending legislation to change the 100:1 crack/powder ratio to 20:1, some judges continue to apply a 1:1 ratio. Here's the report:

Dunbar was charged in a crack cocaine conspiracy, and pled guilty to a five-year mandatory minimum count. Based in part on a prior New York Youthful Offender adjudication, Judge Irizarry classified Dunbar as a Career Offender, and determined that his advisory Guidelines range of imprisonment was 188 to 235 months. Judge Irizarry, however, sentenced Dunbar to 60 months imprisonment based on a 1:1 crack/powder ration. More particularly, applying this ration (and rejecting the Probation Department's application of a 20:1 ratio), Judge Irizarry concluded that Dunbar's advisory Guidelines range was 30 to 37 months, but was obliged to sentence him to the minimum mandatory five-year term of imprisonment.

Full post as published by Second Circuit Sentencing Blog on April 27, 2010 (boomark / email).