United States v. Kay, No. 12-2554 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his sentence and restitution award stemming from his guilty plea to charges of drug-related conspiracy, money laundering, structuring to avoid reporting requirements, and conspiracy to engage in the interstate transportation of stolen goods. The court held that the district court did not plainly err or abuse its discretion in sentencing defendant to 200 months' imprisonment; the court was unable to provide meaningful appellate review because the record did not reflect how the district court balanced the U.S.S.G. 5E1.2 factors in imposing defendant's $500,000 fine and, therefore, the court vacated the fine and remanded for redetermination of this portion of his sentence; and the district court did not clearly err in imposing a restitution award in the amount of $300,000. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Criminal case - Sentencing. District court considered defendant's mitigation evidence, applied the 3553(a) factors and imposed a substantively reasonable sentence; because the record does not reflect how the district court balanced the factors in Guidelines Sec. 5E1.2 in imposing defendant's $500,000 fine, the court could not conduct a meaningful review of the fine and the matter is remanded for redetermination; evidence was sufficient to support the court's restitution award.
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