United States v. Steven J. Sanchez

Appellant United States appeals the district court's six-month downward departure of appellee Steven J. Sanchez’ sentence for unarmed bank robbery. Appellant argues that the district court’s rationale for departing was insufficient under the Sentencing Guidelines. The district court reasoned that the remoteness of appellee’s convictions, the calculation of a parole violation for sentencing purposes, and appellee’s drug dependency, a condition which allegedly resulted from medication prescribed during a physical recovery period, justified a departure. The Sentencing Commission, however, has adequately considered these factors; indeed, the Sentencing Guidelines do not permit downward departures unless the offense is nonviolent and the drug use is involuntary. Therefore, we vacate the sentence below and remand for resentenc-ing.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellee Steven J. Sanchez was indicted on eight counts of unarmed bank robbery on September 26, 1989, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a). Appellee pled guilty to four of those counts on November 29. At that time the parties, and the district court, believed that appellee would be sentenced within Category II or Category…