Court Error – Sentencing Guidelines

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Murtaza Ali

Case No.: 16-4218

Officials: POSNER, KANNE, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Court Error – Sentencing Guidelines

A naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan named Murtaza Ali, who is the defendant in this case, took his three small children out of the U.S. without his wife’s knowledge, intending to take them to Pakistan. His wife had been granted custody of the children by a court order; the same order prohibited Ali from taking the children out of Illinois. Intercepted en route, in Turkey, he was taken back to the U.S., where he was arrested, pleaded guilty to violating the parental-kidnapping statute, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. His appeal challenges the judge’s basing the sentencing guidelines calculation in part on Ali’s having substantially interfered with the administration of justice, which section 2J1.2(b)(2) of the federal sentencing guidelines punishes with a 3-level increase in the applicable guidelines range. Had that increase not been imposed, the defendant’s guidelines range would have been 8 to 14 months rather than 15 to 21 months.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.