Another NY Judge Finds Sentencing Guidelines Unconstitutional

In a New York State of  Mind

A second Eastern District judge has found the federal sentencing guidelines unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Blakely v. Washington, which held that state sentencing schemes cannot allow judges rather than juries to find aggravating factors that increase prison sentences.

Still, Judge Nina Gershon on Friday sentenced a defendant who had challenged the guidelines to a maximum of 5 years in prison for lying to FBI agents about his relationship to a Yemeni sheik who allegedly raised money for al Qaeda. Lying to an FBI agent is punishable by 0 to 5 years in prison, but would generally result in 6 months. Prosecutors sought the highest sentence, saying it was warranted by a terrorism relationship as defined in the guidelines.

The jury, however, was not asked to decide whether defendant Numan Maflahi had lied to disrupt a terrorism investigation, only whether he had made a false statement. His attorney argued that the guidelines were unconstitutional and would not allow Mr. Maflahi to receive a more severe sentence based on a fact not found by the jury.

Ruling from the bench, Judge Gershon agreed that Blakely rendered the guidelines unconstitutional. But she said she was then left with the discretion to sentence the defendant and sentenced him to 5 years. Earlier this month, Eastern District Judge I. Leo Glasser also found that the guidelines unconstitutional under Blakely.