United States v. Cruzado
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
440 F.3d 44 (2006)

- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
Juan Manuel Cruzado-Laureano (defendant) was the mayor of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. Through his government position, Cruzado extorted money via kickbacks and other means, and then laundered the money through a variety of businesses. Cruzado was convicted on five counts of extortion and five counts of money laundering. Cruzado was originally sentenced to five years in prison but prevailed in an appeal, which alleged that the sentencing court had relied on the wrong version of the sentencing guidelines. Upon remand, the sentencing court again performed a complicated sentencing calculation and found that under the correct guidelines Cruzado should be sentenced to between five and six-and-one-half years in prison. The court then imposed an identical sentence as the first sentence, for five years imprisonment. Cruzado appealed, alleging that the court had erred in applying the guidelines in its sentencing calculations.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stahl, J.)
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