United States v. Cephu, No. 10-3838 (7th Cir. 2012)
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Defendants were convicted of conspiring to entice underage girls to engage in prostitution, to transport them (along with adult women) in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, to use force and fraud to coerce adult women to engage in prostitution, and to commit related offenses and of the underlying offenses, 18 U.S.C. 1591, 2421, 2423. The judge sentenced ringleaders to life in prison and another to 324 months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting an argument that the indictment was “duplicitous." With respect to an argument based on the government’s frequently posing leading questions, the court stated that the judge was too hard on the prosecution. One defendant’s argument that his 324-month sentence is grossly disproportionate to his role was frivolous, but another defendant was entitled to remand because of an ambiguity in his sentence. At the sentencing hearing the judge imposed life sentences on him on seven counts for which the jury convicted him, and on the other seven counts of conviction imposed sentences ranging from 5 to 10 years. The judge added that the sentences are “all to be served consecutively to each other.” The written judgment, however, states that all the sentences are “to be served concurrently.”
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