LOVE & HIP HOP NEW YORK MENDEECEES HARRIS FACES 5 TO 40 YEARS.

LOVE & HIP HOP NEW YORK MENDEECEES HARRIS FACES 5 TO 40 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON!

Sentencing_Table This is the sentencing table used during the sentencing phase for federal defendants.

Mendeecees Harris plead guilty on cocaine and heroin charges,  (click on link)  mendeecees indictment. Enclosed in Mendeecees Harris indictment charges him with Title 21, United States Code, Section 846; Title 18, United

LOVE & HIP HOP NEW YORK MENDEECEES HARRIS FACES 5 TO 40 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

States Code, Section 1956(h). Sources say Mendeecees is facing 5 to 40 years and to add insult to injury he will be ordered to pay a fine of 1,000,000.00 U.S. dollars. As always here on Street Justice, we are dedicated to providing facts to give you a better idea of what all the hoola is all about.

 

For those of you who don’t know, individuals sentenced to serve time in federal prison are expected to serve 85% of their sentence. That is of course, if they don’t get into any trouble while doing time. There are different levels of institutions where inmates are expected to serve their sentences. What determines where an inmate will serve their sentence depends on their criminal history point and the severity of their offense. For instance, politicians or police officers sentenced to prison will be placed in lower level institutions to serve their sentence. Prisons are rated from Minimum to Maximum as followed:

•  Camps are the lowest level institution to serve time.
•  Lows
• Mediums
• Highs
• Super Max

1.

MINIMUM SECURITY

Minimum security facilities, also known as Federal Prison Camps or FPCs typically house criminals who need the least amount of supervision and management. They have dormitory-like housing where inmates are able to coexist in the same space and interact regularly. There is usually a low staff-to-inmate ratio and limited or no perimeter fencing.

Prison camps will often provide inmates with work or program related activities. They are able to participate in community service and help fulfill service needs in the area.

This is the type of facility that housed Martha Stewart in 2004 when she was incarcerated for her involvement with ImClone Systems.

2.

LOW SECURITY

When a prisoner is incarcerated in a low security building, or Federal Correctional Institution, they are also housed in dormitory-like facilities. In addition there is also “cubicle housing” available as well at this level. There is typically a double-fence around the perimeter. Compared to minimum security facilities, low security prisons have a higher staff-to-inmate ratio.

Low security prisons also offer strong work and program components to inmates to keep them occupied and productive. Many of the inmates in low security facilities are either first time low-risk criminals or those who have shown good behavior in the system and have earned the right to be in an environment that provides more freedom. Inmates can, in fact, earn their way to a low security facility from a maximum security building for good behavior.

3.

Medium Security

Inmates who end up at medium security prisons are typically housed in cell-type housing.  Their facilities are within double fences with electronic detection systems in place.  A variety of work and treatment programs are available to these inmates as well if they comply and make efforts to improve their behavior.  Prison guards have more internal controls in medium security facilities.

Prisoners at this level are viewed as escape-risks and are potentially dangerous to other inmates and staff.  There is usually constant and direct supervision of all inmates.

4.

High Security

High security facilities are often referred to as United States Penitentiaries.  These prisons are usually behind heavy-duty perimeters, including walls and reinforced fences.  US Penitentiaries house their inmates in single or multiple cell housing with the highest staff-to-inmate ratios.  There are cameras situated throughout the buildings for close monitoring of inmate actions.

Inmates secured in high security facilities cannot often be trusted to work out in the field in any community programs.  They have very little opportunity to socialize with other inmates.  They are considered to be the most dangerous of them all.

More than likely, depending on how well Mendeecees Harris’s attorney negotiate with the United States Attorney, he will serve his sentence at a Medium Institution and work his way down. If he’s not considered a ring leader or an organizer in his conspiracy he’ll eventually be able to get to a lower level facility during his incarceration.

The statutes below are in Mendeecees Harris indictment. It can be located in the United States Code book.

 

18 U.S. Code § 1956 – Laundering of monetary instruments

(a)

(1) Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity—

(A)

(i) with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or

(ii) with intent to engage in conduct constituting a violation of section 7201 or 7206 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or

(B) knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part—

(i) to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

(ii) to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law,

shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. For purposes of this paragraph, a financial transaction shall be considered to be one involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if it is part of a set of parallel or dependent transactions, any one of which involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, and all of which are part of a single plan or arrangement.

(2) Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers, or attempts to transport, transmit, or transfer a monetary instrument or funds from a place in the United States to or through a place outside the United States or to a place in the United States from or through a place outside the United States—

(A) with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or

(B) knowing that the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation, transmission, or transfer represent the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and knowing that such transportation, transmission, or transfer is designed in whole or in part—

(i) to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

(ii) to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law,

shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation, transmission, or transfer, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. For the purpose of the offense described in subparagraph (B), the defendant’s knowledge may be established by proof that a law enforcement officer represented the matter specified in subparagraph (B) as true, and the defendant’s subsequent statements or actions indicate that the defendant believed such representations to be true.

(3) Whoever, with the intent—

(A) to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity;

(B) to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of property believed to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

(C) to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law,

conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction involving property represented to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, or property used to conduct or facilitate specified unlawful activity, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both. For purposes of this paragraph and paragraph (2), the term “represented” means any representation made by a law enforcement officer or by another person at the direction of, or with the approval of, a Federal official authorized to investigate or prosecute violations of this section.

(b)Penalties.—

(1)In general.— Whoever conducts or attempts to conduct a transaction described in subsection (a)(1) or (a)(3), orsection 1957, or a transportation, transmission, or transfer described in subsection (a)(2), is liable to the United States for a civil penalty of not more than the greater of—

(A) the value of the property, funds, or monetary instruments involved in the transaction; or

(B) $10,000.

21 U.S. Code § 846 – Attempt and conspiracy

Any person who attempts or conspires to commit any offense defined in this sub chapter shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the attempt or conspiracy.

 

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PEOPLE INCARCERATED ON NON-VIOLENT DRUG CHARGES ARE A BIT CLOSER TO GETTING OUT OF FEDERAL PRISON YEARS EARLY. CLEMENCY IS NOW ON THE TABLE FOR SOME DRUG OFFENDERS

Deputy Attorney General James Cole announced that the department would broaden the criteria for clemency, a move that is expected to lead to thousands of prisoners — most serving drug sentences — filing applications to President Barack Obama seeking to commute their sentences.

The changes are part of a broader effort by the Obama administration to modify sentencing laws, allowing for use of rehabilitation and other alternatives to deal with non-violent drug offenders and those who previously faced tough mandatory minimum sentences.

Attorney General Eric Holder previewed some of the changes Monday by announcing plans to assign more lawyers to handle an anticipated flood of clemency requests.

Clemency changes to free drug offenders

Obama commutes 8 crack cocaine cases

Obama commutes 8 crack sentences

Crack cocaine at heart of once-common sentencing disparity

“We are launching this clemency initiative in order to quickly and effectively identify appropriate candidates, candidates who have a clean prison record, do not present a threat to public safety, and were sentenced under out-of-date laws that have since been changed, and are no longer seen as appropriate,” Cole said at a news conference.

The clemency changes would be open to prisoners who have met a set of specific conditions: they must be low-level, non-violent offenders without a significant criminal history and must be serving a federal sentence that would likely be shorter if they were convicted today. They must have served at least 10 years of their sentence and have demonstrated good conduct in prison, with no history of violence before or during their prison term.

The pending changes are the latest step in an ongoing effort Holder calls “Smart on Crime,” which also seeks to remedy the once-common wide disparity in sentences handed down over powder versus crack cocaine, based on guidelines first enacted by Congress more than 25 years ago.

Earlier: Eric Holder seeks to cut mandatory minimum drug sentences

Of the more than 200,000 inmates in the federal prison system, some estimates show the new clemency criteria could apply to about 2,000 prisoners. But the number is likely to fall to perhaps hundreds after government lawyers review the applications.

The Justice Department says it doesn’t know how many people will end up qualifying because it depends on the applications and how they fit the new criteria. The President has final authority to decide who gets clemency.

Obama has been criticized by some civil rights groups for being stingy with his pardons and commutations. But many praised the Justice Department’s decision as a good initial step, including a coalition of groups working on sentencing guidelines.

The announcement “marks the beginning of the end of the age of mass incarceration,” said Jerry Cox, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “We must seize this historic opportunity to start the process of remedying decades of cruel and unnecessarily harsh sentencing policies.”

Cole also announced the appointment of Deborah Leff to lead the department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, which has come under fire for being slow to review a backlog of applications.

Cole said the department was setting up an online application system and working with pro-bono attorneys who will assist prisoners in their applications.

Mary Price, general counsel for the group Families Against Mandatory Minimums, which advocates for changes to drug sentencing laws, welcomed Cole’s announcement. “The doors of the Office of the Pardon Attorney have been closed to petitioners for too long. This announcement signals a truly welcome change; the culture of ‘no’ that has dominated that office is being transformed,” she said.

The push to relax sentencing laws has the support of some conservative Republican lawmakers, who believe it is a way to reduce spending on federal prisons and to use alternatives to incarceration to deal with drug problems. However, lawmakers want the changes to be made through Congress rather than through the president’s executive power.

“I hope President Obama is not seeking to change sentencing policy unilaterally. Congress, not the President, has authority to make sentencing policy. He should continue to work with Congress rather than once again going it alone, and I’m willing to work with the President on these issues.” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said this week.

Cole, in his remarks Wednesday, said the issue is one of fairness. “Older, stringent punishments that are out of line with sentences imposed under today’s laws erode people’s confidence in our criminal justice system, and I am confident that this initiative will go far to promote the most fundamental of American ideals — equal justice under law,” Cole said.

Three years ago, Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act to address the larger issue of drug sentencing disparities. Sentencing guidelines provided for a 100-to-1 ratio between the penalties for crack cocaine offenses versus those for powdered cocaine, but the fair sentencing law reduced the disparity to 18-to-1.

 

The U.S. Sentencing Commission recently voted to apply reduced drug penalties retroactively to over 46,000 people serving excessive sentences for federal drug offenses — potentially reducing average prison terms by two years.

The vote reflects a historic shift in the nation’s approach to substance abuse. There’s an emerging consensus among both Republicans and Democrats that using the criminal justice system to address substance abuse is both too expensive and doesn’t work in terms of promoting public safety.  Policymakers of both parties are increasingly recognizing that the war on drugs has come at a ruinous cost for all Americans, but particularly for communities of color.