United States v. Blarek
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
7 F. Supp. 2d 192 (1998)
Interior designers Antony Blarek and Frank Pellecchia (defendants) were lured by drug dealer client Jose Santacruz Londono into a lucrative, years-long money laundering scheme, ultimately convicted of conspiracy to commit racketeering and money laundering despite neither having a prior criminal record or ever using violence or weapons in the scheme; the sentencing judge had to determine an appropriate sentence for each under the federal sentencing guidelines and case-specific circumstances.
Whether the four traditional sentencing considerations of retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation justify departing substantially below federal sentencing guidelines for nonviolent, first-time offenders in a long-term financial crime.