Sentencing-Deterrence

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America, v. Luis Arroyo

Case No.: 22-2008

Officials: Hamilton, Brennan, and Kirsch, Circuit Judges

Focus: Sentencing-Deterrence

Former State Rep. Arroyo, who served from 2006 to 2019, simultaneously managed a lobbying firm. From 2018-2019, Arroyo’s lobbying firm received $32,500 in payments from James Weiss’s sweepstakes-gaming company as part of a corrupt arrangement to secure Arroyo’s official support for the sweepstakes industry within the General Assembly. Notably, Arroyo had not previously taken a stance on sweepstakes gaming but suddenly began advocating for legislation favorable to the sweepstakes industry and encouraging other lawmakers and government officials to do the same. He intentionally kept his financial ties with Weiss concealed.

Once the government discovered the bribery scheme, Arroyo pleaded guilty to wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. 666(a)(2). The court handed down a sentence of 57 months in prison and ordered him to forfeit the $32,500 he had received as a bribe. The Seventh Circuit upholds this decision, dismissing Arroyo’s argument that the judge made an error by considering his 57-month sentence necessary to deter public corruption. The court clarified that district judges are not required to present empirical data on the deterrent effects of a sentence before evaluating its ability to prevent criminal behavior. The judge reasonably presumed that public officials are rational actors who pay attention to the consequences when one of their own is sentenced, and this presumption supports the notion that sentences can influence behavior at the margins.

Additionally, the court rejected Arroyo’s claims that the judge erred by considering certain statements during his allocution as aggravating factors and by ordering him to forfeit an excessive amount of money as part of his punishment.

Affirmed.

Decided 07/28/23

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