FRANCISCO RESTREPO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that the trial court improperly departed from the sentencing guidelines based on the quantity of drugs involved. The conviction is affirmed, but the sentence is vacated and remanded for resentencing.
Appellant was convicted of trafficking in over 400 grams of cocaine. The trial court departed from the mandatory minimum sentence, imposing a 30-year …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Departure From Guidelines cases and more on FLexlaw
CAMPBELL, Chief Judge.
Appellant, Francisco Restrepo, was convicted of trafficking in more than four hundred grams of cocaine, and was sentenced to serve thirty years in prison and to pay a $250,000 fine. On appeal, appellant challenges both his conviction and sentence. We find merit only in appellant’s sentencing issue and remand to the trial court on that issue alone. We find no merit in appellant’s other contentions and, accordingly, affirm appellant’s conviction. In sentencing appellant, the trial court departed from the minimum mandatory sentence of fifteen years (section 893.-135(l)(b)3, Florida Statutes (1987)), and sentenced appellant to serve thirty years in prison. The court gave the following written reasons to depart:
As the legislature has determined that one found guilty of trafficking in 400 grams of cocaine should be imprisoned for 15 years, what should the appropriate sentence be for one convicted of trafficking in 22 times 400? To suggest that the sentence should be the same is an affront to justice. Justice demands that one convicted of trafficking in 8898 grams of cocaine receive a greater punishment than one convicted in trafficking in 4V2% of that amount.
(R 1271).
The trial court thus clearly departed because of the greater amount of narcotics involved in the crime. This is improper under Atwaters v. State, 519 So. 2d 611 (Fla.1988). We, therefore, vacate appellant’s sentence and remand to the trial court for resentencing within the guidelines range.
DANAHY and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Sandoval v. State, 541 So. 2d 1361 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)…519 So. 2d 611 (Fla.1988). As with appellant’s codefendants, we, therefore, affirm the conviction for trafficking in cocaine, vacate appellant’s sentence and remand to the trial court for resentencing within the guidelines range. Restrepo v. State, 533 So. 2d 1180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Sanchez v. State, 533 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). Conviction affirmed, sentence vacated and remanded with instructions. PARKER and ALTENBERND, JJ., concur.…
-
Montoya v. State, 537 So. 2d 629 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)…rs prescribed by section 893.135(1)(b)(3), Florida Statutes (1987), based on the quantity of narcotics involved. This has been held, however, to be an improper reason to [*630] depart. Atwaters v. State, 519 So. 2d 611 (Fla.1988); Restrepo v. State, 533 So. 2d 1180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). Accordingly, we affirm Montoya’s conviction but remand to the trial court for resentencing within the recommended guidelines range with the sentence to be no less than that required by section 893.135(1)(b)(3). THREADGILL and P…
-
Usquiano v. State, 540 So. 2d 172 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)…convicted in trafficking in 4½% of that amount. The trial court thus clearly departed because of the greater amount of narcotics involved in the crime. This is improper under Atwaters v. State, 519 So. 2d 611 (Fla.1988). See also Restrepo v. State, 533 So. 2d 1180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). We therefore vacate the appellant’s sentence and remand to the trial court for resentencing within the guidelines range. LEHAN and PARKER, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Atwaters v. State, 519 So. 2d 611 (Fla. 1988)