U.S. v. Manzella

• Decision Date: 02 February 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-3434.,06-3434.
• Citation: 475 F.3d 152
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Valerie MANZELLA, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

475 F.3d 152

UNITED STATES of America v. Valerie MANZELLA, Appellant.

No. 06-3434.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued December 5, 2006.

Opinion filed February 2, 2007.

As Amended February 8, 2007.

Lisa B. Freeland, Federal Public Defender, Kimberly R. Brunson, Esquire (Argued), Office of Federal Public Defender, Pittsburgh, PA, Counsel for Appellant.

Mary Beth Buchanan, United States Attorney, Robert L. Eberhardt, Esquire (Argued), Kelly R. Labby, Esquire, Office of United States Attorney, Pittsburgh, PA, Counsel for Appellee.

Before RENDELL and AMBRO, Circuit Judges BAYLSON,^* District Judge.

AMBRO, Circuit Judge.

Section 3582(a) of Title 18 requires sentencing judges to "recogniz[e] that imprisonment is not an appropriate means of promoting correction and rehabilitation." We conclude that the District Court, despite the best of intentions, violated this statutory command by sentencing Valerie Manzella to 30 months of imprisonment solely because a term of that length was believed necessary to make her eligible for a 500-hour drug treatment program offered by the Bureau of Prisons.

I. Factual Background

Manzella pled guilty to one count of "Uttering a Counterfeit Security of an Organization Involved in Interstate Commerce," in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 513(a). The Government admits that Manzella was a "small participant in a large[-]scale counterfeit check cashing scheme." The organizer of the scheme, Herbert Lamont Ballard, had recruited Tammy Racz for assistance. Racz, in turn, sought people who would provide their own personal information with which to generate counterfeit checks, all in return for a portion of the fraudulent proceeds. Manzella was one of those recruits.

Manzella is a drug addict, but it was not always so. Around the age of 30, she and her partner wanted to have a child, but had difficulty conceiving. When Manzella finally became pregnant, she had a miscarriage, causing her to become depressed. It was then that she began abusing drugs. Soon the relationship with her partner ended and Manzella became involved with a drug addict who prostituted her for cash. In the decade since her miscarriage, Manzella has tried several times to treat her addiction, but nothing has worked. Like others similarly involved, Manzella was thus vulnerable to Racz's invitation to join Ballard's fraud conspiracy.

On her arrest for attempting to cash a counterfeit check in the amount of $484.06, Manzella immediately cooperated with the authorities. It has been suggested that the threat of Manzella testifying against Ballard played a significant role in causing him to plead guilty.

Aside from this cooperation, however, it is fair to say that the period between Manzella's arrest and sentencing was a tragic drama. Conditions of Manzella's pre-trial release included refraining from the use and possession of controlled substances and reporting regularly to Pre-Trial Services for drug testing. In addition, she was required to attend outpatient drug therapy at a facility called "Zoar NewDay" in Pittsburgh. Several months after being released on bond, Manzella failed to report to Pre-Trial Services and to Zoar NewDay, causing the District Court to issue a warrant for her arrest. Once Manzella was apprehended, the District Court held a hearing concerning the violation of her pre-trial release, resulting in the imposition of an additional condition—home confinement monitored by electronic device. Shortly after the hearing, Manzella entered her guilty plea. After the plea colloquy, the Court advised Manzella that "it will be foolish to come to your sentencing having violated" the conditions of pre-trial release. Nevertheless, in the several months following her plea, Manzella repeatedly left her residence for unauthorized purposes and tested positive for cocaine. Shortly before her sentencing, Manzella again was arrested, this time after being found passed out with a crack pipe in her purse.

Manzella was sentenced in June 2006. The undisputed advisory Sentencing Guidelines range was 2-8 months of imprisonment.¹ In her pre-sentencing memorandum, Manzella's attorney argued for a non-jail sentence. At the sentencing hearing however, she instead argued (presumably because of the pre-trial release violations) that Manzella should be sentenced to a one-month prison term only or, at most, one month in prison followed by a term of supervised release. Manzella's mother also addressed the Court regarding her daughter's history of drug addiction. The Government did not make any specific recommendations as to the proper sentence but did argue that "the only thing that's going to get [Manzella] clean, to change her lifestyle, is a lengthy period of incarceration. . . . She's never been made to face the consequences of her actions."

After counsel had finished making their arguments, the Judge imposed a sentence of 36 months in prison and recommended that Manzella be placed in the Bureau of Prisons's 500-hour drug treatment program while incarcerated. The Judge explained:

The reason for the sentence is as follows: The Court finds the sentence imposed to be sufficient, but not greater than necessary for the sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offense, promote respect for the law, and provide just punishment for the offense; to afford adequate deterrence; to protect the public against commission of further crimes by this Defendant; and provide the Defendant with needed and effective educational or vocational training, medical care, or other corrective treatment.

It is obvious that the short-term incarcerations and the drug treatment programs to date have not been sufficient to help [the] Defendant work through her issues. The drug treatment program of 500 hours is the best program that is available in the federal correctional system and requires a minimum of 36 months in order to participate in that program.

I also find that her conduct is different than the other people that I have given probation to or minimum sentences because of her conduct and her continued violation of her obligations to this court. And I have great concern that a sentence of one month and putting her back out on the street will not help her solve her issues and, quite frankly, could lead to her great harm and possibly to her death.

The Court, additionally, has considered all the other factors set forth in Title 18 [of the] United States Code, Section 3553(a), including the nature and circumstances of the offense, the Defendant's history and characteristics, the kinds of sentences available for this offense, the sentencing guidelines range under the advisory guidelines adopted by the United States Sentencing Commission for the category of offense and [the] Defendant's criminal history, any applicable policy statements adopted by the Sentencing Commission, the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among Defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct, and the need to provide restitution to any victim of the offense.

Manzella's attorney objected almost immediately, arguing that there were several options short of prison that could provide Manzella with rehabilitative services. Specifically, she pointed out that the longest treatment program Manzella had ever attended had lasted only 30 days and that a longer, more intensive program—such as a halfway house—might prove more effective.

When the Judge did not respond to these arguments, Manzella's attorney then recalled that "there was somebody else in my office who had a case where I believe Your Honor had sentenced the Defendant to the 500-hour drug treatment program through [the Bureau of Prisons], but they thought a 24-month sentence would be sufficient to be able to get her into it, given that it was a female, et cetera." Though still contending that no prison sentence was warranted, Manzella's attorney requested in the alternative that the Judge impose a 24-month sentence instead.

This argument piqued the Judge's interest.

I had previously been informed that for a woman, that 24 months was adequate to participate fully in the 500-hour program. I was either misinformed or that information has been updated and so my understanding is that it is — the minimum is 36 months.

If counsel wishes, I would be pleased to hold the implementation of this sentencing until early next week so counsel — the counsel for [the] Defendant and the Government can meet with the Probation Office and verify that information. But I do remember the sentence from two weeks ago, I did inquire of the probation officer about the 24 months and was informed that it's 36 months. I did that intentionally today.

Rather than delaying the sentence into the next week, everyone agreed to adjourn briefly so that the probation officer could inquire from the Bureau of Prisons as to the specific term of imprisonment needed in order for Manzella to be eligible for the 500-hour treatment program. When the hearing resumed, the Judge reported:

It is my understanding from the Probation Office that although the Bureau of Prisons wished to have 36 months to conduct the program in light of scheduling issues, they believe that they can do it at 30 months. So I will amend my sentence to 30 months, down from 36 months.

Even this reduced sentence is almost four times longer than the top of the advisory Guidelines range.

Manzella filed an expedited appeal of her sentence, claiming that (1) it violates 18 U.S.C. § 3582(a); (2) it is unreasonable in light of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005); and (3) it violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution, see U.S. CONST. art. I, § 9, cl. 3. The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231, and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a)(1).

II. Discussion

Though the Sentencing Guidelines are now advisory, sentencing courts must...