U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Daniel Comeaux for the Drug Enforcement Administrations Houston Field Office made the announcement. These guidelines were superseded in April Production of a controlled drug Class A Maximum: Life imprisonment For instance, the Court of Appeal in R v Lau Tak Ming and Ors and HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas stipulated that the starting point of a sentence for trafficking heroin and cocaine ranges from 2 to 5 years imprisonment for weights up to 10 grams and increases to 26 and 30 years for large weights between 4 kilograms and 15 kilograms.Footnote 1. After calculating the arithmetic starting points for each gram between the minimum and maximum drug weight thresholds, a linear plot for each guideline was graphed. Cocaine and Heroin Starting Sentence Points for Category 14 Drug Weights for each Offender Role Category (England and Wales). Is drug trafficking more, less, or as serious as aggravated assault or burglary? } All the slopes follow the proportionality assumption that the heavier the weight category, the lower the slope. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 32 The first international treaty for such a response was the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (n 5). (October 2017) Using fiscal year 2016 data, this publication includes analysis similar to that in the 2017 Overview (September 2017) This report analyzes sentence commutations granted under the 2014 Clemency Initiative. WebDrug Trafficking Sentencing; Prayer for Judgment Continued; Limitations on More Severe Sentence; Sex Offenders. A lock ( Drug sentencing in the federal system has generally demonstrated that both legal (e.g., charge severity, criminal history) and extralegal (e.g., defendant race/ethnicity, gender) factors are important in determining sentence severity ( Albonetti, 1997; LaFrentz & Spohn, 2006; Sevigny, 2009 ). "Ikq`: Through cross-comparative analysis, the methodologies judges use to arrive at the starting point of sentencing and the assumptions behind the sentencing guidelines are revealed. Forfeiture and destruction of weapons orders, 18. 90-95(h). Gastelum Avila is charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana intending and knowing that those substances would be imported into the United States. All rights reserved. Lastly, Category 4 includes heroin, cocaine of 5 grams, ecstasy of 13 tablets, cannabis of 100 grams and ketamine of 5 grams. Subsequent rulings by the Court of Appeal have expanded the sentencing guidelines to include other types of drugs beyond heroin and cocaine, such as ketamine. Consistency is maintained through the determination of starting points of sentences. The proportionality was then measured using three states that correspond to the following figures: Through the creation and comparison of the graphs with the above standard models, inferences about the guidelines were drawn. This implies that the scale used to measure the quantity of drugs is disproportionate, penalising smaller quantities more harshly than larger quantities. An official website of the United States Government. hasContentIssue true, Proportionality and Deterrence in Drug Trafficking Sentencing, This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (, Copyright The Author(s), 2022. "The charges in this case reflect the Justice Department's commitment to dismantling drug trafficking organizations that sow violence and fear in our communities. 23 International Narcotics Control Board, Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2007 (United Nations 2008). In other words, the lower the drug weight trafficked, the more steeply the penalty increase for each additional gram of drug being trafficked. This handout presents an overview of the Commission's Report to the Congress: Career Offender Sentencing Enhancements. San Juan, PR On March 22, 2023, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a six-count indictment charging 22 individuals with drug trafficking in the municipalities of Sabana Grande, San Germn, Lajas, and Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Gastelum Avila faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the drug conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 30 years for the firearms offense. This case is supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. According to the Court, Purity analysis is essential for sentencing purposes for cases of importation, or in other circumstances, where 500 grammes or more of cocaine, heroin or amphetamine are seized. Sentencing Guidelines in Hong Kong for Ketamine, The following table summarises the drug tariffs for ketamine in Hong Kong, where the same guidelines apply to the ecstasy drug.Footnote 77. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5, 2023, by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley. Please also be sure Contrary to initial assumptions that the more offensive the offender role, the steeper the slope, the lesser category has a steeper slope than the significant role. Figure 2. From this figure, it is clear that Hong Kong has a much steeper, and thus harsher, sentencing range for cocaine and heroin. 5 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (adopted 30 Mar 1961, entered into force 13 Dec 1964) UNGA Resolution A/RES/3444. Green's qualitative analysis on Nigerian traffickers arrested within European jurisdictions and specifically sentenced according to British drug control policies questioned the usefulness of the repressive sentencing regime.Footnote 17 This led to a spate of scholarship revealing that the traffickers being sentenced were less blameworthy individuals, be it under coercion or through exploitation.Footnote 18 Victims of human trafficking can be coerced into drug trafficking.Footnote 19 Cases in Indonesia, for example, revealed the connection between victims of human trafficking being used as drug mules.Footnote 20 Research by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales into women imprisoned for unlawful importation of drugs found that the women interviewed either did not know that they were carrying drugs or that they committed the crime because of their desperate livelihoods and threats that they have received, and that sentencing, despite knowing a custodial sentence was likely, was not a consideration.Footnote 21, An American judge, Jim Gray, observed that many defendants he sentenced were drug users and addicts who were only supplementing their habit with street dealing.Footnote 22 These observations led to a supplementary policy expanding the use of drug treatment centres. The Justice Departments Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance with securing the arrest and extradition of Gastelum Avila. Although the slopes themselves are similar across offenders role categories, the minimum thresholds clearly distinguish the sentencing ranges. Thus, both jurisdictions exhibit logarithmic curves for the starting point of sentences for each drug type and offender culpability. Sentence Starting Point for Cocaine and Heroin in Months (Hong Kong). The range of punishment for each offense is as follows: Felonies: Misdemeanors: Infractions: fines up to $400.00 Some offenses are not denominated by a letter classification. 90-95(h)) Drug trafficking is not sentenced using the regular Structured Sentencing grid. When comparing the category weights, it is also clear that Hong Kong's slope range of 0 to 200 grams is greater (3.6 to 0.32) compared to that of England and Wales (0.248). The starting point of such sentences depends on the type of drug and its weight. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, Acting Executive Associate Director Steve K. Francis of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBIs Criminal Investigative Division, and Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office made the announcement. An important question for consideration at this point is how can the level of involvement in drug trafficking be measured? 75 UK Sentencing Council, Class B: Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug/ Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply it to another (2021) accessed 16 Mar 2022. In July 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison for being a principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise, narcotics trafficking, using a firearm in furtherance of his drug crimes, and participating in a money laundering conspiracy. The former aims to prevent crime by sending a message to would-be offenders of the negative consequences of committing the particular offence, whereas the latter focuses on preventing a repeat offence by a specific offender to demonstrate to the offender that crime does not pay. The cross-comparative analysis of the guidelines underscores the existing sentencing discrepancies between the two jurisdictions when it comes to drug trafficking offences. The slopes are also much greater for comparatively similar drug weights. While comparing the various levels of offender involvement, the authors highlight the surprising disproportionality within the sentencing guidelines where lower weight ranges attract more severe punishment than higher weight ranges. School of Government, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jessica Smith (Ed.). The consultation on the original guidelines for drug offences was open from 28 March 2011 to 20 June 2011. Forfeiture and destruction of goods bearing unauthorised trade mark, 17. The USSC HelpLine assists practitioners in applying the guidelines. MANDATORY 3 YEAR PRISON SENTENCE 2.2 pounds, but less than 100 pounds of marijuana * 28 grams, but less than 500 grams of cocaine 4 grams, but less than 14 grams of an opiate, morphine, or heroin These documents may include consultation responses, statistical bulletins, resource and equality impact assessments and guideline assessments. The extant literature raises doubts on the possibility of preventing repeat offences based on the sentence length. f`(H[U]$A] z&F G !K Production of a controlled drug, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (section 4(2)(a) or (b)) Cultivation of cannabis plant, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (section 6(2)) Triable either way unless the defendant could receive the minimum sentence of seven years for a third drug trafficking offence under section 313 of the Sentencing Code in which case the offence is In R v Morris, the Court indicated that the drug weight for heroin and cocaine should be The career-offender Guidelines con-trolled because they recommended a higher sentence than The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Many courts have spoken to the societal harm of drug trafficking. R|~. hbbd```b`` Commissioners are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Box 6000, Dept F, Rockville, MD 20849, United States. For example, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction evaluated the alternatives to the stipulated punishments for drug-related offenders. The Commission serves as an information resource for Congress, the executive branch, the courts, criminal justice practitioners, the academic community, and the public. The results show that both jurisdictions have adopted sentencing guidelines that exhibit a logarithmic curve. To illustrate the basis of the sentencing practice, the arithmetic starting points (which will be discussed in detail later) were calculated for the entire weight range provided in the sentencing guidelines in England and Wales and Hong Kong. The slope of each linear function highlights the added sentence for an additional gram of drugs for each sentence category. Since the evidence may not clearly indicate an offender's culpability, the guidelines are set at the lowest level and can be enhanced when necessary. One of the leading cases on sentencing guidelines is R v Lau Tak Ming and Ors, where the Court updated the guidelines to reflect the drug situation in Hong Kong in the early 1990s. Guzman Loera was extradited to the United States in January 2017. The Sinaloa Cartel is a violent, transnational drug trafficking organization based in Mexico that engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and importation of ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana from Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, and Honduras to Mexico and into the United States. However, it is important to note that these statistics are for all serious drug offences, which include possession, manufacturing, and trafficking.Footnote 72 Kilima further clarifies the point on focusing on consistency in sentencing by quoting HKSAR v Manalo:Footnote 73 It is important for the courts to avoid distinctions, which will often be irrational or speculative, being drawn between drug traffickers who are couriers or storekeepers because the resulting disparity in the levels of sentence will understandably lead to feelings of grievance.Footnote 74, This comment reflects the reasoning behind Hong Kong's refusal to instate a formal consideration of the offender's culpability (through their role) in calculating the sentence starting point instead, Hong Kong opted to leave such consideration within the purview of judicial discretion. Suggested starting points for physical and mental injuries, 1. The slopes of the guidelines are combined in the tables based on the drug type for intra- and interjurisdictional comparison. drug trafficking impose both minimum and maximum penalties for those convicted of a drug trafficking crime. An indictment is merely an allegation. Through this equation, it is possible to calculate the sentence starting point of any drug that weighs between the minimum and maximum category of drug weights stipulated in the guidelines. Price (in either consumer or export market context) was ruled out as it was dependent on too [many external] factors [such as] the harvest in the Golden Triangle;Footnote 61 the overseas demand; and the adulteration of mixture.Footnote 62 The Court in Lau Tak Ming suggested that the existing method be retained. Senate Bill 793 reduced some of Oklahomas harsh drug crime sentencing practices The legislature showed a commitment to criminal justice reform by approving SB 793 in 2018. This study compares cocaine, heroin, and ketamine. Gastelum Avila faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the drug conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 30 years for the firearms offense. "When I first came to San Juan, I said that violent crime would be amongst our top priorities. The definitive guidelines on drug offences were issued on 24 January 2012 and came into force on 27 February 2012. endstream endobj 543 0 obj <>/Metadata 10 0 R/Outlines 14 0 R/PageLayout/OneColumn/Pages 540 0 R/StructTreeRoot 19 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 544 0 obj <>/Font<>>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Type/Page>> endobj 545 0 obj <>stream The United States Sentencing Commission unanimously voted to reduce sentencing guidelines for federal drug trafficking offenders in 2014. In drug trafficking cases where dangerous drugs are involved, harm is defined by the trafficked drug weight and drug type. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Triable either way unless the defendant could receive the minimum sentence of seven years for a third drug trafficking offence under section 313 of the Sentencing Code in which case the offence is triable only on indictment. 22 Gray, James P, Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs (Temple University Press 2021)Google Scholar.

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