Minicone v. United States

353 F. Supp. 2d 316, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1134, 2005 WL 195383
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 26, 2005
Docket5:89-cr-00173
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 353 F. Supp. 2d 316 (Minicone v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Minicone v. United States, 353 F. Supp. 2d 316, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1134, 2005 WL 195383 (N.D.N.Y. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

MUNSON, District Judge.

BACKGROUND

At the conclusion of a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Minicone was convicted in January of 1991, of conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) (Count One), and of conspiring to conduct and participate in the affairs of an enterpidse *317 through a pattern of racketeering activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) (Count Two). These convictions were based on evidence at trial that Minicone and co-defendants Jack Zogby, Anthony Inserra, Benedetto Carcone, and Russell Carcone were involved in a wide-spread criminal enterprise, centered in Utica, NY, that spanned the period between the years 1973 and 1989 and included extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, trafficking in stolen property and murder.

Among the activities in which Minicone was implicated was the 1976 murder of A1 Marrone. Minicone, Zogby, and Inserra planned to kill Marrone shortly after his release from prison because he had threatened to kill them and their co-conspirator, Anthony Falange, and also because they feared that Marrone planned to take over their territory. The three began plotting the murder six months in advance. They interviewed several hitmen and ultimately hired Edward Noel to assist in the murder. Minicone, Zogby, Inserra and co-conspirator Dennis Pritchard met with Noel early in the fall of 1976 to plan the murder. On the night of October 2, 1976, while Minicone and Inserra kept their distance and monitored a police *299 scanner, Noel, Zogby and another man shot and killed Marrone on the sidewalk in front of his girlfriend’s home.

Minicone also was involved in the attempted murder in 1983 of Thomas Bretti. Minicone had been assigned to kill Bretti and attempted to do so by planting a bomb on the front steps of Bretti’s home. Bretti was seriously and permanently injured when the bomb exploded. Minicone also participated actively in other aspects of the illegal enterprise: he ordered Pritchard to steal money from two local bookmakers in 1973; regularly engaged in the extortion of local bookmakers; received bets and collected money on behalf of a bookmaking operation; actively engaged in loansharking; and conspired with others to kill Pritchard after Pritchard was suspected of being an informant. Although he started out as a low-level figure in the enterprise in the early 1970s, Minicone gained- prominence and was working directly for the “boss,” Anthony Falange, by the late 1980s.

The jury convicted Minicone of the RICO and RICO conspiracy counts, and found that he committed, or aided and abetted the commission of the underlying racketeering activity of murder in violation of New York Penal Law § 125.25, § 100.10, § 20.00 and § 105.15. Minicone was sentenced in compliance with the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual (“U.S.S.G.”) § 2E1.1, Unlawful Conduct Relating to RICO. This section sets a base level of 19, or the offense applicable to the underlying racketeering activity. Application Note 2. of this guideline section directs that, “if the underlying conduct violates state law, the offense level corresponding to the most analogous federal offense is to be used.”

The language of the guidelines instructs the court to compare the conduct, not the titles of the statutes cited. United States v. Tolliver, 61 F.3d 1189, 1221 (5th Cir.1995). Different states have different labels for the same crime, therefore, depending upon which state murder statute is charged as the underlying offense of premeditated murder or killing with specific intent, inconsistent sentences for identical illegal conduct could be imposed in different states if the base offense level was computed merely by looking at the label of such statute and having that label be determinative of the most analogous federal offense, rather than looking at the actual substance of the underlying state statute to determine the most analogous federal offense. Id.

*318 When selecting the most analogous guideline in compliance with U.S.S.G. § 2X5.1, the courts have, traditionally looked at definitions of the offenses, made factual findings concerning the defendant’s conduct, and decided which- guideline is most applicable to those facts. United States v. Rahman, 189 F.3d 88, 150 (2d Cir.1999). A sentencing judge’s selection of a sufficiently analogous offense involves an application of a Guideline to the facts, a determination to which the Court of Appeals will give due deference to the district courts application of the guideline to the facts, rather than applying the “plainly unreasonable” standard. 18 U.S.C. § 3742(e); United States v. Rahman, 189 F.3d 88, 150 (2d Cir.1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 982, 120 U.S. 439, 145 L.Ed.2d 344 (1999).

In calculating Minicone’s base offense level, this Court applied United States Sentencing Guideline (“U.S.S.G.”) § 2A1.1, entitled “First Degree Murder.” The court determined that the most analogous federal offense to New York State’s Second Degree Murder statute, N.Y. Penal Law § 125.25, was the federal first degree murder statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1111(a). This analogy, which must be drawn by the district judge pursuant to the Guidelines, does not implicate Apprendi because Ap-prendi does not undermine the internal scheme of the Sentencing Guidelines. See, Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 497 n. 21, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435., 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). Moreover, an Apprendi claim cannot be raised under § 3582 because such claims are barred on collateral review. United States v. Meadows, 2003 WL 22324905, 77 Fed.Appx. 575 (3d Cir.2003), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2045, 158 L.Ed.2d 513 (2004).

Furthermore, in Blakely v. Washington, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a decision by a state trial judge under that state’s Sentencing Guidelines that permitted the judge to increase a defendant’s penalty for a crime beyond the statutory minimum based on facts neither admitted by the defendant or found by a jury, ; violated the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury. 542 U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 2538, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004).

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353 F. Supp. 2d 316, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1134, 2005 WL 195383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/minicone-v-united-states-nynd-2005.