Opinion
CASE NO.: 2:15-cr-141-FtM-38MRM
01-13-2020
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. THOMAS DAVANZO
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Before the Court is the United States' Motion for Reduction in Sentence Pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b). (Doc. 241). Defendant Thomas Davanzo has not responded, and the time to do so has expired. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants the United States' motion.
More than two years ago, the Court sentenced Davanzo to 121 months' imprisonment for wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering. (Doc. 109). This low-end Guidelines sentencing included a two-level departure under U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 motion as a result of Davanzo's assistance in prosecuting a co-conspirator. Since then, the Court has twice granted the Government's motions to reduce Davanzo's sentence for his substantial assistance. (Doc. 213; Doc. 238). Davanzo is currently serving a sentence of seventy months' imprisonment.
Upon the Government's motion, a district court may reduce a sentence if the defendant has provided substantial assistance. Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b); United States v. Mora, 703 F. App'x 836, 843 (11th Cir. 2017) (stating a court may reduce a sentence "only to reflect a defendant's subsequent, substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person" (quotation marks omitted)). The reduction may even occur more than one year after sentencing if the defendant's substantial assistance involved one of three circumstances:
(A) Information not known to the defendant until one year or more after sentencing;Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b)(2). The court has discretion to grant or deny motions to reduce sentences. See United States v. Manella, 86 F.3d 201, 205 (11th Cir. 1996).
(B) information provided by the defendant to the government within one year of sentencing, but which did not become useful to the government until more than one year after sentencing; or
(C) information the usefulness of which could not reasonably have been anticipated by the defendant until more than one year after sentencing and which was promptly provided to the government after its usefulness was reasonably apparent to the defendant.
After careful consideration of the applicable law and record, the Court finds that Davanzo has again provided substantial assistance to merit a sentence reduction. Davanzo's cooperation contributed to two more defendants being indicted and prosecuted for a $7.2 million tax credit fraud scheme in the United States District Court for Colorado. One defendant pled guilty and a jury convicted the other a few months ago. Davanzo testified before the grand jury to support the indictments against both defendants and he testified at the trial. The Court thus finds an additional two-level reduction to be reasonable based on Davanzo's substantial assistance.
This finding leads to a total offense level of 25, a criminal history category of I, and a Sentencing Guidelines Range of 57-71 months. Based on this calculation, the Court finds a sentence of 57 months' imprisonment to be sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes of sentencing. All other parts of Davanzo's sentence remain as originally imposed.
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED:
1. The United States' Motion for Reduction in Sentence Pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b) (Doc. 241) is GRANTED.
2. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter an amended judgment reducing the sentence imposed to 57 months' imprisonment, and otherwise leaving the original sentence intact.
DONE AND ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 13th day of January 2020.
/s/ _________
SHERI POLSTER CHAPPELL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Copies: Counsel of Record