Penalties for Drug Dealing

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York, Federal

http://youtu.be/imj7IXzFFFg

Montrose residents Virginia DeMicheli and Ceresa Gonzalez, mother and sister of heroin dealer Stefano DeMicheli, react to news that the 26-year-old was sentenced to 40 years in prison after he failed a drug treatment program.

LOHUD THE JOURNAL NEWS

Written by
Shawn Cohen

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Quoting Heroin dealer’s mom lashes out at Putnam judge, D.A. for ‘unfathomable’ 40-year sentence

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The mother of a street-level heroin dealer sentenced to 40 years in prison lashed out at the Putnam County judge and district attorney, saying they scapegoated her son for the suburban heroin epidemic by meting out a punishment harsher than many murderers get.

“It’s like they want a feather in their caps for winning the war on drugs,” Virginia DeMicheli of Montrose told The Journal News on Thursday, a week after her 26-year-old son, Stefano, was sentenced. “I don’t think he should go unpunished. But 40 years is unfathomable. Why not arrest and make an example out of a drug dealer at the top of the chain, or the suppliers? Why go after a small town young man, one without the means to defend himself?”

She cried as she added, “He’ll be 66 years old when he comes out. I’ll never see my son again outside of jail. I’ll be dead.”

District Attorney Adam Levy made a personal appearance in November to argue for the maximum sentence to hold Stefano DeMicheli accountable for failed drug tests, missed counseling sessions and other arrests while participating in a drug treatment program.

By failing out of the judicial diversion program, Stefano DeMicheli put himself in a position to get sentenced on the felony drug conviction that put him there.

He faced up to 12 years on each of four counts for a December 2011 arrest in which police found him with 35 bags of heroin and 19 bags of crack cocaine.....

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Apparently, momma loves her polite respectful drug dealer, regardless of how many other peoples lives he wrecked or people he killed in his 5 year career. How sweet. Isn't this also going on in MO right now?

http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-rel...earms-offenses

Being a heroin dealer is NOT a lesser charge than being a murderer. In fact, he *IS* a murderer. The powder he pedals kills people. Frankly, I'd love to see felony-murder rules invoked more often in these cases.

He was given a second chance. He thumbed his nose at it. Judges have very little sympathy for that.

He was fortunate to have even been given diversion in the first place! Given the charges I read here, he would not normally have been eligible for deferral! The fact that they appeared to have bent over backwards to give him a shot at a deferral and he consciously chose to disregard the huge break he was given and commit more crimes, just demonstrates how great a threat this thug is.

One does not accidentally commit 29 felonies!!!! You have to gout of your way and TRY really hard to commit that many!

DID YOU SEE THIS? SHE IS THE DIR OF YOUTH PROGRAMS WORKING AT CASES IN THE NYC FAMILY COURTS. HER BROTHER FAILED A DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAM AND SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS AND SHE WORKS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE TRYING TO STAY OUT OF JAIL THROUGH DIVERSION?

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ceresa-g...msw/71/314/646

SHE SAYS GETS PICTURES OF PRIVATES. THERE SOMETHING WRONG HERE.

Why are you shouting and what is your point? It doesn't sound like her brother received any kind of favorable treatment.

I guess as a society we have unlimited resources to lock street-level drug dealers up, house them, feed them, provide medical care for them, etc. for the rest of their lives.

Now, if this guy was a mid-level dealer and not a street-level dealer he could have gotten a much (decades) shorter sentence in exchange for snitching on other dealers. The lowest man on the totem pole gets the longest sentence because there's nobody for him to finger. That doesn't sound like a system that is working very well to me...

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Quoting Bubba Jimmy

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The lowest man on the totem pole gets the longest sentence because there's nobody for him to finger.

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Seems to me he'd be able to finger somebody. He has to be getting the drugs from somewhere.

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Quoting Bubba Jimmy

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I guess as a society we have unlimited resources to lock street-level drug dealers up, house them, feed them, provide medical care for them, etc. for the rest of their lives.

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Street level dealers usually get a plea deal to possession and drug diversion. It is exceedingly rare that a first offender street dealer is goin gto get anything beyond local time, probation and diversion.

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Now, if this guy was a mid-level dealer and not a street-level dealer he could have gotten a much (decades) shorter sentence in exchange for snitching on other dealers. The lowest man on the totem pole gets the longest sentence because there's nobody for him to finger. That doesn't sound like a system that is working very well to me...

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Anyone can roll over on the guy over him. The lowest guy on the totem pole can roll on the middle guy who can roll on the higher-up guy, ad nauseum. But, the lowest guy usually gets the option of possession and diversion whereas the other levels do not often get that opportunity.

Doesn't seem like he'd be getting 40 years for a few dozen bags of heroin and crack - that's fairly minor stuff in the overall scheme of drug trafficking, less than an ounce of either if we're talking about individual dose bags (not garbage bags). Not sure how they came up with 40 years, but something isn't quite right about the story I don't think. There are much worse crimes for which people do much less time.

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Quoting Bubba Jimmy

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Doesn't seem like he'd be getting 40 years for a few dozen bags of heroin and crack - that's fairly minor stuff in the overall scheme of drug trafficking, less than an ounce of either if we're talking about individual dose bags (not garbage bags). Not sure how they came up with 40 years, but something isn't quite right about the story I don't think. There are much worse crimes for which people do much less time.

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Did you read the article? He blew off diversion, had been charged with 38 offenses including 29 felonies prior to being offered diversion, and was in possession of a firearm that was believed used in a drug-related shooting. Sounds as if he thumbed his nose at a very generous offer that never should have been presented to him in the first place.

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Quoting free9man

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Why are you shouting and what is your point? It doesn't sound like her brother received any kind of favorable treatment.

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The point is that his sister works for a diversion program at CASES and could not save her own brother from prison. What chance do the youth that she works with have? The article says his mother is a nurse at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital and she wasn't nurturing enough to save her own son. The whole family is a mess and given the video can't accept the damage this drug dealer caused. They need help, especially since he's facing a Federal case also. Help them please.

We can't help them, we're just volunteers. Just because sis failed her brother does not mean she's not good at her job. Even the best can lose one from time to time. Same thing with the mom. You can do everything in the world to try to help someone and still fail, either because the person doesn't want help or is simply beyond it.

It's not unusual for family members to not speak ill of the criminal kin. Be it denial, belief in their innocence or smarts enough to not say anything publicly that could harm the case.

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Quoting Temen8

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The point is that his sister works for a diversion program at CASES and could not save her own brother from prison. What chance do the youth that she works with have? The article says his mother is a nurse at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital and she wasn't nurturing enough to save her own son. The whole family is a mess and given the video can't accept the damage this drug dealer caused. They need help, especially since he's facing a Federal case also. Help them please.

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Wait, what?!

You're basically saying that a surgeon who loses a patient is somehow less of a surgeon?! On which planet does that logic exist?

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Quoting Temen8

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... and she wasn't nurturing enough to save her own son.

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Surely you don't believe that one person has the power to save another person by being nurturing enough... you think people would not be addicts if they were simply nurtured enough? Let me guess, your degree is not in substance abuse counseling, it is?

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Quoting Temen8

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The point is that his sister works for a diversion program at CASES and could not save her own brother from prison. What chance do the youth that she works with have? The article says his mother is a nurse at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital and she wasn't nurturing enough to save her own son. The whole family is a mess and given the video can't accept the damage this drug dealer caused. They need help, especially since he's facing a Federal case also. Help them please.

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Actually her brother had been saved from prison until he screwed up the exceedingly lenient deal given him. You can't save a fool from themselves.

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Quoting jk

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Actually her brother had been saved from prison until he screwed up the exceedingly lenient deal given him. You can't save a fool from themselves.

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Is there an update on the case?

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Quoting Temen8

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Is there an update on the case?

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How should we know? You're the one that has been following it and screaming at US about it.

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Quoting jk

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Actually her brother had been saved from prison until he screwed up the exceedingly lenient deal given him. You can't save a fool from themselves.

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http://www.nysenate.gov/press-releas...ealer-40-years



SENATOR GREG BALL COMMENDS JUDGE REITZ FOR SENTENCING DRUG DEALER TO 40 YEARS


Brewster, N.Y. – Senator Greg Ball (R, C, I – Patterson), Chairman of the Senate Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee, issued the following statement commending Putnam County Judge James Reitz for sentencing Stefano DeMicheli to 40 years in prison.

“The Judicial Diversion program serves as an alternative for drug offenders to get help and seek treatment in place of jail time. However, when offenders have repeat offenses and show no clear intentions of participating in the program, it is time to take them off the streets and put them behind bars. I commend Judge James Reitz for his 40-year sentencing and thank him for sending a strong message to all drug dealers, letting them know illegal drugs have no place in our community. Unfortunately, drug abuse has become an epidemic in our area, we must continue to exercise the full extent of the law to keep our streets clean and protect our children,” said Senator Greg Ball. “To help combat drug addiction I have teamed up with two local families, the Salomone and Christiansen’s, who both recently lost their sons to drug addiction. We will be hosting a Drug Crisis Roundtable on February 13th to promote awareness, and to provide resources and support to those individuals affected by drug addition, specifically students and their families.”

Who cares? The dumbass was given a chance and blew it. Now he can sit in the clink for 40 to consider his error.

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Quoting free9man

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Who cares? The dumbass was given a chance and blew it. Now he can sit in the clink for 40 to consider his error.

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The family cares. The sister works with judges and she was quoted in the article. “They’re abusing their power to make an example of him,” said his sister, Ceresa Gonzalez, 32. “I resent the implication that his drug sales are directly linked to the deaths. There’s no way to know that, and it wasn’t ever part of the case.”

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Quoting Temen8

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The family cares. The sister works with judges and she was quoted in the article. “They’re abusing their power to make an example of him,” said his sister, Ceresa Gonzalez, 32. “I resent the implication that his drug sales are directly linked to the deaths. There’s no way to know that, and it wasn’t ever part of the case.”

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You are missing the point:

the kid was in a deferment program. He refused to comply with the requirements. He was then sentenced. While I think the sentence was excessive, the point is; he would not have to serve any time if he would have simply followed the requirements imposed upon him and not figuratively flipped off the judicial system.

His family needs to wake up and realize their relative is pretty dumb. Given the opportunity of walking away from this, he chose to be sentenced to prison for some period of time by ignoring the simple rules imposed upon him. That makes it his choice so they need to quit being so incensed by the courts actions.

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Quoting jk

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You are missing the point:

the kid was in a deferment program. He refused to comply with the requirements. He was then sentenced. While I think the sentence was excessive, the point is; he would not have to serve any time if he would have simply followed the requirements imposed upon him and not figuratively flipped off the judicial system.

His family needs to wake up and realize their relative is pretty dumb. Given the opportunity of walking away from this, he chose to be sentenced to prison for some period of time by ignoring the simple rules imposed upon him. That makes it his choice so they need to quit being so incensed by the courts actions.

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That's a great point but doesn't the family already understand diversion and the chance he had because they work at Center For Alternative Sentencing and Employment with youth in the NYC Family Court System? Where is the support?

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Quoting Temen8

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That's a great point but doesn't the family already understand diversion and the chance he had because they work at Center For Alternative Sentencing and Employment with youth in the NYC Family Court System? Where is the support?

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Ya lost me. Surely they understand diversion programs. That's why they need to quit crying about the issue. The kid screwed himself.

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Quoting jk

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Ya lost me. Surely they understand diversion programs. That's why they need to quit crying about the issue. The kid screwed himself.

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Sorry, the sister is a social worker / Director at CASES in NYC, the mom is a nurse at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. Maybe they weren't given good advice from somewhere? Maybe his appeal will reduce the sentence dramatically?

In the article the Judge does say this:

"Judge James Reitz expressed his own regret that he accepted Stefano DeMicheli into the program, over the district attorney’s objections. He thanked God that the young man didn’t kill anyone before sentencing him to 10 years on each count to run consecutively."

Does that hurt chances on appeal?

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Quoting Temen8

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Sorry, the sister is a social worker / Director at CASES in NYC, the mom is a nurse at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. Maybe they weren't given good advice from somewhere? Maybe his appeal will reduce the sentence dramatically?

In the article the Judge does say this:

"Judge James Reitz expressed his own regret that he accepted Stefano DeMicheli into the program, over the district attorney’s objections. He thanked God that the young man didn’t kill anyone before sentencing him to 10 years on each count to run consecutively."

Does that hurt chances on appeal?

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his only chance of any sort of appeal is on the length of the sentence. If it is out of the "norm" of sentencing guidelines he can likely get it reduced to fall within the guidelines. If it is allowed under sentencing guidelines, well, I suspect social security will be his income source when he gets out of prison.

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Quoting jk

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his only chance of any sort of appeal is on the length of the sentence. If it is out of the "norm" of sentencing guidelines he can likely get it reduced to fall within the guidelines. If it is allowed under sentencing guidelines, well, I suspect social security will be his income source when he gets out of prison.

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Oh wow, and he has a federal case pending on other charges...

Will that add more years?

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Quoting Temen8

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Oh wow, and he has a federal case pending on other charges...

Will that add more years?

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It could

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Quoting jk

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It could

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Very sad.

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Quoting Temen8

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Very sad.

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sad? The kid was given a "get out of jail for almost free" card and he tore it up. Dumb is more appropriate.

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Quoting Temen8

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The family cares. The sister works with judges and she was quoted in the article. “They’re abusing their power to make an example of him,” said his sister, Ceresa Gonzalez, 32. “I resent the implication that his drug sales are directly linked to the deaths. There’s no way to know that, and it wasn’t ever part of the case.”

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Of course the FAMILY cares. Apparently the defendant did not care enough to take advantage of the very lenient deal he got to stay clean. HE made a conscious choice to thumb his nose at the offer and HE is to blame for what happened to him. It's his dumb luck that they decided to throw the book at him. he had his chance, he rejected it, and now he has to pay the piper.

No sympathy from me for him.

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Quoting jk

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sad? The kid was given a "get out of jail for almost free" card and he tore it up. Dumb is more appropriate.

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His brother David De Micheli is a graduate student at Cornell university. Smart family, so I don't think Stefano is dumb. Maybe he doesn't understand the implications of his decisions?


http://cornell.academia.edu/DavidDeMicheli

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Quoting Temen8

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Smart family, so I don't think Stefano is dumb. Maybe he doesn't understand the implications of his decisions?

i

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either he is smart and there is some other reason for his actions or he is dumb which would allow for a lack of understanding the implications of his actions. If he was as smart as you believe him to be he surely would have understood the implications of his actions.

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Quoting Temen8

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His brother David De Micheli is a graduate student at Cornell university. Smart family, so I don't think Stefano is dumb. Maybe he doesn't understand the implications of his decisions?

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Smart family doesn't mean HE is smart. And there are many "smart" criminals out there who thumb their nose at the system thinking they are smarter than it. So, it could be he got too cocky for his britches.

Besides, what can be so hard about: "Don't do or sell drugs or you can go to jail?"

So, either he's a COMPLETE moron and lacks the ability to function in society because he clinically stupid, or, he was smart enough to understand the implications of his actions and intentionally disregard them. He can't have it both ways.

Your defense of this felon is rather disturbing ...

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Quoting cdwjava

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Smart family doesn't mean HE is smart. And there are many "smart" criminals out there who thumb their nose at the system thinking they are smarter than it. So, it could be he got too cocky for his britches.

Besides, what can be so hard about: "Don't do or sell drugs or you can go to jail?"

So, either he's a COMPLETE moron and lacks the ability to function in society because he clinically stupid, or, he was smart enough to understand the implications of his actions and intentionally disregard them. He can't have it both ways.

Your defense of this felon is rather disturbing ...

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I understand. I'm not defending his crimes, but if you look at 40 years being almost double his age now you might understand that in fact the sentence may probably be reduced on appeal except maybe given the seriousness of his federal rap?

Sentences aren't reduced on appeal merely because of the defendant's age.

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Quoting Temen8

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I understand. I'm not defending his crimes, but if you look at 40 years being almost double his age now you might understand that in fact the sentence may probably be reduced on appeal except maybe given the seriousness of his federal rap?

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Why? I am unaware of any sentencing guidelines based on the AGE of the defendant. If he were of advanced age, an argument might be made in several years to allow for a compassionate release, but not now and not at his young age. Clearly this man is a danger to society and has chosen to thumb his noses at the public and public safety - and is even alleged to have participated in at least one overt violent act.

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Quoting cdwjava

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Why? I am unaware of any sentencing guidelines based on the AGE of the defendant. If he were of advanced age, an argument might be made in several years to allow for a compassionate release, but not now and not at his young age. Clearly this man is a danger to society and has chosen to thumb his noses at the public and public safety - and is even alleged to have participated in at least one overt violent act.

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You mean this quote from the article?

"Then in March, Westchester County police and federal authorities arrested him at his family’s home and seized a loaded gun that, according to law enforcement sources, was believed to have been used in a drug-related shooting."

Yep, everybody he sold drugs to never suffered from the addiction and led moral upstanding lives as pillars of society. :wallbang: His problem is he made a living at selling hardcore drugs and became so confident in his ability to get away with it, he scoffed at the law several times to many.

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Quoting Temen8

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The family cares. The sister works with judges and she was quoted in the article. “They’re abusing their power to make an example of him,” said his sister, Ceresa Gonzalez, 32. “I resent the implication that his drug sales are directly linked to the deaths. There’s no way to know that, and it wasn’t ever part of the case.”

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Quoting Temen8

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You mean this quote from the article?

"Then in March, Westchester County police and federal authorities arrested him at his family’s home and seized a loaded gun that, according to law enforcement sources, was believed to have been used in a drug-related shooting."

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Yeah, that would be the one. That, and the boatload of other felonies (29 out of the 38 offenses for which he was charged by the time he entered his deferral program in 2012). One does not accidentally commit 29 felonies! That takes uncanny devotion and steely-eyed dedication!