United States v. Waldo Eugene Leon

Appellee Waldo Eugene Leon (“Leon”) was convicted of preparing false income tax returns. At sentencing, the district court departed downward six levels based on Leon’s family ties and responsibilities. Specifically, the district court relied on Leon’s indispensable role in caring for his wife (“Mrs. Leon”), who recently had had her kidney removed due to renal cancer and who had been diagnosed as being at risk of committing suicide if she were to lose her husband to death or incarceration.

The departure reduced the sentencing range from 27-33 months to 10-16 months, which in turn allowed the district court to split Leon’s sentence between imprisonment and home detention. The district court sentenced Leon to 16 months, which it split between 8 months of imprisonment and 8 months of home detention. The Government challenges this downward departure. For the reasons stated in this opinion, we affirm.

I. Background

Leon pled guilty to 32 counts of preparing false income tax returns. Leon’s offense level before the departure here at issue was 17 and he was in criminal history category II. The guideline range was thus 27-33 months. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual…