Sentencing Guidelines

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Ulises De La Cruz

Case No.: 17-2263

Officials: FLAUM, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing Guidelines

From the time he was a young adolescent, defendant Ulises De La Cruz was a member of the Latin Kings gang. De La Cruz was one of many Latin Kings swept up in a federal prosecution charging the gang with operating a racketeering conspiracy in the Chicago area. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and argued at sentencing that the district judge should reduce his sentence by the amount of time he had already served in prison on charges related to conduct that was part of the ongoing racketeering conspiracy. He was partially successful. The district judge, in recognition of a prison sentence De La Cruz was still serving, imposed a 210-month sentence. That term was the bottom of the range recommended by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. De La Cruz appeals this sentence. He contends that the Guidelines entitle him to a greater reduction due to another prior prison sentence he served in full. His argument misreads the discretionary nature of the Guidelines relating to downward departures for discharged prison sentences. The district judge did not abuse that discretion, so we affirm.

Affirmed

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