United States v. Eugene Difrancesco, United States of America v. Eugene Difrancesco

658 F.2d 33, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 18564
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedAugust 12, 1981
Docket231, 908 and 1094, Dockets 78-1250, 78-1369 and 78-1371
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 658 F.2d 33 (United States v. Eugene Difrancesco, United States of America v. Eugene Difrancesco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Eugene Difrancesco, United States of America v. Eugene Difrancesco, 658 F.2d 33, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 18564 (2d Cir. 1981).

Opinions

MESK.ILL, Circuit Judge:

This case is before us on remand from the Supreme Court. United States v. DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. 117, 101 S.Ct. 426, 66 L.Ed.2d 328 (1980), rev’g 604 F.2d 769 (2d Cir. 1979). In our original decision, familiarity with which is assumed, we held that 18 U.S.C. § 3576 (1976), which allows the Government under certain conditions to appeal a sentence imposed upon a “dangerous special offender,” as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 3575, violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that nothing in the Constitution forbids appellate review of a sentence under section 3576. The question now before us is whether the sentence imposed upon DiFrancesco under the enhancement provisions of section 3575 can stand. Because the sentence imposed was inconsistent with the sentencing court’s finding of “dangerousness,” we remand for resentencing.

BACKGROUND

The facts are set forth in our original opinion and need not be fully recounted here. In April 1976, DiFrancesco was indicted for conducting and conspiring to conduct through a pattern of racketeering an arson-for-hire business in the Rochester, New York, area, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962 (1976). Prior to trial, the Government filed a notice contending that DiFrancesco qualified as a “dangerous special offender” under 18 U.S.C. § 3575 and recommending that pursuant to subsection (b) of that statute he be considered for a special five-year enhancement of the twenty-year sentence otherwise provided for each violation of section 1962.1 See 18 U.S.C. § 1963(a) (1976). On October 31, 1977, DiFrancesco was convicted in a jury trial before Judge Burke on both counts. He was not immediately sentenced. Shortly thereafter, on January 26,1978, DiFrancesco was convicted in a jury trial before Judge Pratt of various crimes surrounding the Columbus Day bombing of the Federal Building in Rochester.2 Judge Pratt sentenced DiFrancesco to a total of nine years for his involvement in the bombing.

[35]*35Subsequently, on April 7, 1978, Judge Burke conducted a special sentencing hearing in connection with the Government’s petition for enhanced punishment. Two weeks later, the court issued findings of fact, see 18 U.S.C. § 3575(b) (1976), and concluded that DiFrancesco was a dangerous special offender. Specifically, the court found that DiFrancesco qualified as a “special” offender under 18 U.S.C. § 3575(e)(3) (1976)3 since he was the “captain” of a substantial arson-for-hire ring which “maintained formal membership, various ranks and a chain of command, and required the formal initiation of its members.” In finding DiFrancesco to be “dangerous” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 3575(f) (1976),4 Judge Burke stated:

This criminal history, based upon proven facts, reveals a pattern of habitual and knowing criminal conduct of the most violent and dangerous nature against the lives and property of the citizens of this community. It further shows the defendant’s complete and utter disregard for the public safety. The defendant, by virtue of his own criminal record, has shown himself to be a hardened habitual criminal from whom the public must be protected for as long a period as possible. Only in that way can the public be protected from further violent and dangerous criminal conduct by the defendant, Eugene DiFrancesco.

One week late", on April 28, 1978, the court sentenced the defendant as a dangerous special offender to two concurrent ten-year terms of imprisonment, to be served concurrently with the nine-year term imposed by Judge Pratt for the bombing conviction. Thus, in effect, DiFrancesco received only a one-year prison term for his involvement in the arson ring, even though the maximum term under the statute is 20 years for each count. The Government appealed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3576 (1976), arguing that the court abused its discretion in imposing such a lenient sentence after finding the defendant to be a dangerous special offender.

DISCUSSION

There can be little dispute that DiFrancesco is a “special” offender under section 3575(e)(3). The district court’s findings, which have not been shown to be clearly erroneous, show that DiFrancesco “did . . . initiate, organize, plan, finance, direct, manage, or supervise all or part” of a felonious “conspiracy with three or more other persons to engage in a pattern of conduct criminal under applicable laws.” Id. Rather, the controversy surrounds the court’s finding of “dangerousness” and the sentence imposed pursuant thereto. The Government argues that, in view of Judge Burke’s findings, “the sentence . . . actually imposed here — adding but one year to the defendant’s nine-year term of imprisonment imposed [for the bombing] — is not at all a product of its factual findings and . . . constituted an abuse of that court’s discretion.”

Section 3575(f) provides that “[a] defendant is dangerous for purposes of this section if a period of confinement longer than that provided for such felony is required for the protection of the public from further criminal conduct by the defendant.” The Government concedes that, “at first blush,” the finding of dangerousness together with the mandatory language of subsection (b), “would seem to have required that the court sentence petitioner to a term longer than that provided for the underlying violation — i. e. twenty years.” The Government contends, however, that such an interpretation is incorrect, “since in the very next [36]*36subsection of the Act Congress stated that it was not ‘creating any mandatory minimum penalty.’ ”

We cannot agree with the Government that a sentence of less than the authorized penalty may be consistent with a finding of dangerousness. The language, judicial interpretations, and legislative history lead us to an opposite conclusion. By the very language of subsection (f), for DiFrancesco to have qualified as “dangerous,” the sentencing court must have concluded that the protection of the public required his incarceration for more than twenty years. The cases support this interpretation. See United States v. Warme, 572 F.2d 57, 62 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 1011, 98 S.Ct. 1885, 56 L.Ed.2d 393 (1978) (sentencing court entitled to rely on variety of evidence in concluding that “ ‘protection of the public’ required [defendant’s] confinement for a period ‘longer than provided for [the] felony.’ ”); United States v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Sanders
515 A.2d 1256 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1986)
United States v. Alfred Calabrese
755 F.2d 302 (Second Circuit, 1985)
United States v. Giordano
535 F. Supp. 257 (E.D. New York, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
658 F.2d 33, 1981 U.S. App. LEXIS 18564, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-eugene-difrancesco-united-states-of-america-v-eugene-ca2-1981.