United States v. Messina, No. 14-1219 (2d Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his conviction of one count of racketeering conspiracy as an associate of the Bonanno crime family within the charged enterprise of La Cosa Nostra. The court held that defendant's below‐Guidelines 18‐year sentence for racketeering conspiracy is neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable because the district court acted within its discretion in rejecting the government’s non‐binding 10‐year sentencing recommendation, based on the nature of defendant’s crime, which included both foreseeable felony murder and attempted murder, his longstanding participation in the Bonanno crime family, and his ongoing loansharking and firearms trafficking; the district court did not misconstrue commentary to U.S.S.G. 6B1.2(b) in concluding that defendant’s guilty plea and plea agreement did not provide justifiable reasons for imposing a sentence half the effective 20‐year Guidelines range; and an 18‐year prison term falls within the range of reasonable sentencing choices available to the district court in this case. Finally, the court concluded that the district court acted within its discretion in ordering restitution with interest for income lost by the victim as a result of the armed robbery offense that ended his life. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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