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9th Circuit judges affirm 30-year prison sentence of ex-firefighter
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Posted on Oct 25 2017
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the 30-year prison sentence of a former firefighter who had pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a child.
Ninth Circuit Judges Mary M. Schroeder, Dorothy Wright Nelson, and M. Margaret McKeown ruled that U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona did not abuse her discretion in sentencing Richard Sullivan Benavente to 30 years in prison.
Manglona had concluded that Benavente obstructed justice by lying to the U.S. government and violated his plea agreement when he lied in his testimony at the trial of Raymond Roberto.
Citing a Ninth Circuit precedent, Manglona imposed a two-level sentencing enhancement on Benavente, resulting in his lengthy prison sentence.
In their ruling submitted to the District Court on Monday, the Ninth Circuit judges said that Benavente’s sentence was also not unreasonable.
Theysaid Benavente’s 360-month sentence was within the guidelines range of 292 to 365 months.
On Feb. 22, 2016, Manglona sentenced the 45-year-old Benavente to the maximum imprisonment of 30 years after explaining that the defendant repeatedly enticed or coerced two minors into having sex with him in exchange for drugs.
Benavente, through counsel Michael Dotts, appealed to reverse the sentence.
In October 2015, Manglona determined that Benavente lied in his testimony at the trial of Roberto, who was then charged with coercion and enticement of some of the same minors that Benavente sexually exploited.
By lying at the Roberto trial, Manglona said, the former firefighter breached his plea agreement with the U.S. government.
Roberto was later acquitted.
