United States v. Cruz
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Luis Armando Peña Soltren appeals from a judgment of conviction entered on January 14, 2011, following his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit air piracy and kidnapping in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (1964), 49 U.S.C. § 1472(i) (1964), and 18 U.S.C. § 1201 (1964); interfering with flight crew members in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 1472(j) (1964); and kidnapping in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201 (1964). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts and the record of prior proceedings, which we reference only as necessary to explain our decision.
On November 24, 1968, Peña Soltren— then age 25 — was one of three men who hijacked Pan American Airways Flight 281, which was scheduled to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Puerto Rico. Using guns and knives to gain control of the plane, they forced the pilots to land in Havana, Cuba.
Peña Soltren remained in Cuba for more than forty years. In October 2009, he returned to the United States, where he was arrested and prosecuted for the 1968 sky-jacking. Pursuant to a plea bargain, Peña Soltren pled guilty to the offenses detailed above, and was sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment “without parole.” Sentencing Tr. at 32. On appeal, Peña Soltren argues principally that the district court erred by imposing a sentence that sought to eliminate the possibility of parole and by imposing an otherwise unreasonable sentence.
The crux of Peña Soltren’s argument is that because the sentencing regime in place at the time of his crime included the possibility of parole, the district court was required to impose a sen
The district court thus erred in imposing a sentence that excluded the possibility of parole. Accordingly, we vacate Peña Sol-tren’s sentence and remand for resentenc-ing. On remand, the district court should sentence Peña Soltren de novo, applying the regime for parole eligibility outlined above and taking his parole eligibility into account as it determines an appropriate sentence.
Because we vacate Peña Soltren’s sentence and remand for de novo resentenc-ing, we do not need to address Peña Sol-tren’s arguments that the district court’s original sentence was otherwise unreasonable except to the extent that they are relevant to his request that the case be reassigned to a different district court judge on remand.
We see no persuasive reason to reassign this case on remand. Contrary to Peña Soltren’s assertion, Judge Heller-stein did not rely on any inappropriate factors in imposing sentence. On the contrary, the record shows that Judge Hel-lerstein fully considered Peña Soltren’s mitigating arguments in determining his sentence and made no error casting a shadow on the court’s impartiality. Al
Peña Soltren has also failed to identify any errors made in the original sentence that Judge Hellerstein would “have substantial difficulty in putting out of his ... mind” on remand. See id. We note that it was not error for the district court to consider the Sentencing Guidelines as one factor in imposing sentence, even though the criminal conduct occurred prior to the implementation of the Guidelines. See United States v. Furman, 31 F.3d 1034, 1039 (10th Cir. 1994). “The Guidelines as written reflect the fact that the Sentencing Commission examined tens of thousands of sentences and worked with the help of many others in the law enforcement community over a long period of time in an effort to fulfill [its] statutory mandate.” Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338, 349, 127 S.Ct. 2456, 168 L.Ed.2d 203 (2007). Sentencing Courts in pre-Guidelines cases have broad discretion to consider any relevant factors. See, e.g., McClain v. United States, 676 F.2d 915, 918 (2d Cir. 1982) (“In deciding what sentence to impose, ‘a judge may appropriately conduct an inquiry broad in scope, largely unlimited either as to the kind of information he may consider, or the source from which it may come.’ ” (quoting United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443, 446, 92 S.Ct. 589, 30 L.Ed.2d 592 (1972))). Accordingly, the judge may consider the Guidelines in resentencing Peña Soltren. Finally, remanding the case to Judge Hellerstein, who is familiar with its unusual factual record, including the crime and events occurring in Peña Soltren’s life over the following forty years, will preserve judicial resources.
For the foregoing reasons, Peña Sol-tren’s sentence is VACATED and the case is REMANDED to the district court for resentencing.
. Neither party appears to have brought this issue to the attention of the district court after sentence was imposed, thus the district court seems to have had no opportunity to address the argument now made on appeal.
. We also do not need to address the appropriate standard of review to apply to Peña Soltren's challenge to the reasonableness of his sentence imposed under the sentencing regime in place in 1968.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Jose Rafael Rios CRUZ, Miguel Castro, Alejandro Figueroa, Luis Armando Pena Soltren
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published