Tenth Circuit reverses below-guideline sentence

The Tenth Circuit on Monday reversed a below-guideline sentence in US v. Hildreth, No. 06-3070 (10th Cir. May 14, 2007) (available here).  The opinion essentially asserts that a substantial variance was unreasonable because the factors emphasized by the sentencing judge “were already part of the calculation of the sentence under the Guidelines.”   

The Hildreth opinion was authored by Chief Judge Deanell Tacha, who just happens to be a former member of the US Sentencing Commission.  Tellingly, the Hildreth opinion makes much of the wisdom of the guidelines, but has no mention of the parismony mandate of 3553(a).