Sentencing Guidelines – Enhancement

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Geraldo Colon

Case No.: 18-1233

Officials: EASTERBROOK, BARRETT, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing Guidelines – Enhancement

Geraldo Colon used his Indianapolis furniture store and a related business as a front to hide his more lucrative enterprise: buying large quantities of cocaine and heroin from Arizona and reselling the drugs to local dealers in Indiana. For his role as a middleman in this scheme, a grand jury charged Colon with drug conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements in a bankruptcy proceeding. Following two jury trials, Colon was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.

Colon challenges his convictions for money laundering, arguing that the government’s evidence was insufficient. He also contends that the district court committed error in calculating his advisory sentencing range by applying leadership enhancements under § 3B1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines. The leadership enhancement is inapplicable, as Colon sees the evidence, because, as an independent middleman, he did not oversee any participants. Neither challenge succeeds. We affirm Colon’s money laundering convictions. And although we agree that the district court erred in applying leadership enhancements, a careful review of the sentencing transcript reveals that these errors were harmless.

Affirmed

Full Text

Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.