drug trafficking sentencing guidelines
53 Kirby, Amy & Jacobson, Jessica Public attitudes to the sentencing of drug offences (2013) 14 Criminology and Criminal Justice 334Google Scholar. Web*The minimum sentence for a violation after two or more prior convictions for a felony drug offense have become final is a mandatory term of life imprisonment without release and a The arithmetic starting point is the sentence length that judges should use as a starting point, and it is dictated by guidelines laid down to ensure consistency across drug trafficking offences. From the figure, the linear functions combined form a plateau resembling the logarithmic curve. In this graph, it is again apparent that overall, Hong Kong's starting points are much higher than those of England and Wales. An arithmetic sentence is defined as the exact calculation of the expected sentence length, which is dependent on the drug type and the drug weight. After determining the category in step one, the judge or sentencer will then consult the table provided in the guidelines in step two to determine the starting point of a sentence, depending on the class of drugs as stipulated by legislation. The United States Sentencing Commission unanimously voted to reduce sentencing guidelines for federal drug trafficking offenders in 2014. This implies that the sentences for smaller drug weight categories are considerably harsher than those of heavier weight categories. The cross-comparative analysis of the guidelines underscores the existing sentencing discrepancies between the two jurisdictions when it comes to drug trafficking offences. Keep up to date on sentencing guidelines, consultations, our research and news about the Council and our work. Lastly, Category 4 includes heroin, cocaine of 5 grams, ecstasy of 13 tablets, cannabis of 100 grams and ketamine of 5 grams. The charges of money laundering and money laundering conspiracy provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the amount involved in the transaction, whichever is greater. How can certain offences be compared to others on the basis of their seriousness? Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty Of Law, The Chinese University Of Hong Kong. Published online by Cambridge University Press: He allegedly operated as the plaza boss for the Mexican city of Guamchil, Sinaloa, and in that role, he supervised at least 200 armed men and controlled the drug-trafficking activities in that city and the surrounding area. The U.S. Additionally, lack of a standard stipulation on the extent to which sentences should be enhanced as a result of increased culpability creates more leeway for deviation when accounting for a defendant's culpability in Hong Kong. This Court is of the view that the appropriate starting point is 21 years imprisonment.Footnote 67. Deterrence can be viewed through general and specific deterrence. He is also charged with knowingly and intentionally using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm, including a destructive device, during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Figure 2 highlights the arithmetic starting point for cocaine and heroin in England and Wales, stratified by offender role category. 
Disqualification from ownership of animals, 11. The Sentencing Commission examined past federal sentencing practices as a starting These case laws focus on issues related to hard drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, ice, ketamine, and ecstasy, and sentencing is based on the drug type and weight. The lower threshold of Hong Kong's lowest category drug weight (of over 1 gram to 10 grams) is closer to the upper threshold of England and Wales lowest category drug weight. This section covers sentencing for drug trafficking under G.S. !X)eMP7<6qX:=tu-Wwe:Ymn>/7jvo8Sty#+b`._W%Y[v[obYh;K#ZoQyAH7 {v8y2yv3t)`.`WKUk(dp'sIXi'? Category 3 consists of heroin, cocaine of 150 grams, ecstasy of 200 tablets, cannabis of 6 kilograms and ketamine of 150 grams. Start download. Forfeiture or suspension of liquor licence, 24. 67 Official English translation quoted in HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas (n 1) paras 19. } The purpose of this report is to contribute to the ongoing assessment of federal cocaine sentencing policy by Many courts have spoken to the societal harm of drug trafficking. Sentencing Guideline 2D1.1 (a) (2) applies a base base offense level of 38 in certain drug cases when the offense of conviction establishes that death or serious bodily injury resulted from the use of the substance Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Cocaine and Heroin Starting Sentence Points for Category 14 Drug Weights for each Offender Role Category (England and Wales). 35 Hughes, Caitlin E et al. Sentencing Guidelines in Hong Kong for Heroin and Cocaine, The tariffs simply provide a range of sentences corresponding to the quantity of drugs based on the drug type. Sentencing guidelines structured this way would be proportional to the seriousness of the offence in question, demonstrating that trafficking greater quantities of drugs is considered as more serious. He is also charged with knowingly and intentionally using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm, including a destructive device, during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Updated April 3, Using these three models as baseline comparisons helps to ascertain whether the guidelines represent a logarithmic, proportional, or exponential sentencing mechanism for drug trafficking. 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. 30 Anthony Morgan & Alex Gannoni, Methamphetamine dependence and domestic violence among police detainees (Australian Institute of Criminology Research Series on Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice no 588, Feb 2020) 
In the same case, Hong Kong judges in Kilima compared the two jurisdictions guidelines and stated that England and Wales guidelines are too over-prescriptive.Footnote 85 Macrae VP argues that the inclusion of culpability would present an additional challenge of ascertaining the culpability first. Sex Offender Registration & Satellite-Based Monitoring; Analysing the slopes and overall models, this study discusses the extent to which the current sentencing regimes accomplish deterrence, promote retributive justice, and adhere to the principle of proportionality. In December 2018, a grand jury returned an indictment against Gastelum Avila. Trial Attorney Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Divisions Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section is prosecuting the case. The principle of proportionality reflects the idea that a punishment should be proportionate to the harm inflicted by the criminal act. 34 Gardner, Sharon A, A global initiative to deter drug trafficking: Will internationalizing the Drug War work (1993) 7 Temple International and Comparative Law Journal 287Google Scholar; Kassab, Hanna Samir & Rosen, Jonathan D, Illicit Markets, Organized Crime, and Global Security (Palgrave Macmillan 2019)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. WebDeconstructing the Guidelines is a special project undertaken by National Federal Defender Sentencing Resource Counsel. Therefore, the heavier the contents of the trafficked drug, the more proportionally lenient the sentence will be. The HSI Nogales Office and the FBI Washington Field Office are investigating this case. The slope of the linear functions provides a numerical basis for interjurisdictional comparisons of the leniency or severity of the jurisdictions guidelines. 
That is perhaps why we set the bar at the level of the courier, raising it if there is an international element and when the scale of the applicant's role becomes clear.Footnote 86. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. This case is supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). In both jurisdictions, the starting point of a sentence is determined by the seriousness of the offence. "There will always be more work to be done, but this takedown dismantled an extremely violent criminal enterprise, which controlled most of the drug trafficking operations in the SW of Puerto Rico, with no regard for human life and no respect for law enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau Aguadilla Strike Force are in charge of the investigation, with the collaboration of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the United States Marshals Service (USMS), the Mayagez Strike Force, Mayagez Homicide Division, and the Mayagez District Attorney. The culpability of the offender is based on the offender's role in the offence and is divided into three groups. However, the flaws of this method were pointed out, such as the concept of notional conversion and a blurring of the differences between the three types of narcotic purity that existed at the time.Footnote 63 This flaw could lead to injustices occurring from contention over the resultant variables of the conversion method employed and greatly increase administrative inconvenience. As a result, it was agreed that the quantity of narcotic was the only constant across cases, and so this was chosen as the basis for the tariff that Lau Tak Ming went on to set out.Footnote 64 When setting the specific bands for the tariff, the court purposely set them to be wide, to allow sentencing judges to consider other relevant factors when determining the final sentence. Thus, both jurisdictions exhibit logarithmic curves for the starting point of sentences for each drug type and offender culpability. WebFelony Sentencing Classifications Class A: 10-30 years Class B: 5-15 years Class C: 3-10 years Class D: Up to 7 years Class E: Up to 4 years Persistent Offenders: Have been found guilty of 2 or more felonies committed at different times; may be sentenced one felony class level higher. 50 Release, Release's response to the Sentencing Council's drugs offences guideline professional consultation (2011)