Date Posted:06:11:08 07/11/12 Wed Author: Uncle Sam Subject: First-time offender in Florida earns 162-year sentence - and NO parole
A 20-year-old Florida man was convicted earlier this year for his role in an armed robbery spree crimes in which he fired a gun, but didnt shoot anyone.
When it came time for punishment, a federal judge gave Quartavious Davis the stiffest of sentences: 1,941 months, or nearly 162 years.
My first offense, and they gave me all this time, Davis told Reuters from the Federal Detention Center in Miami. Might just as well say Im dead.
Davis attorney, Jacqueline Shapiro, said shes appealing to the the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, arguing that the extreme sentence which does not include the possibility of parole constitutes a cruel and unusual punishment.
Coincidentally, the U.S. Supreme Court took up the issue of harsh sentencing last week, ruling in a 5-4 decision that a state cant mandate life imprisonment without parole for juveniles convicted of murder.
In Davis case, he was 18 and 19 when he took part in a two-month string of robberies beginning in August 2010.
Nonetheless, Shapiro sees a parallel with the recent Supreme Court ruling, telling Reuters that its also cruel and extreme to allow unfettered prosecutorial discretion ... to impose a life sentence on a teenage first offender convicted of lesser charges (than murder).
Davis was convicted in April as an accomplice in seven armed robberies of commercial properties, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release.
The teen became violent in some of the robberies, prosecutors said: At an auto supply store, he fired two shots at a dog that chased him; at a beauty salon, he brandished a gun and threatened to kill a man; and at a fast-food restaurant, he exchanged gunfire with a customer who had a concealed weapon.
That customer was never able to positively identify Davis.
During his trial, Davis was described as learning disabled and bipolar. The high school dropout lived with his aunt in Goulds, a poor community in Miami-Dade County, Reuters said.
Davis five other accomplices were able to cut plea deals, and were given sentences ranging from nine years to 22 years. Davis, who wasnt described as the ringleader, told Reuters he was never offered a plea deal.
He was the only one who went on trial.
Wifredo Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in May the sentences reflect the commitment of my office to combat violent crime.
We will not allow our community to be overrun by guns and violence, Ferrer said.
The 162 years imposed on Davis was because of a stacked sentence, according to Reuters, in which each individual indictment is considered a separate offense and jail time is served consecutively, not concurrently.
Florida has one of the toughest mandatory minimum sentencing laws in the country, and various groups have called for reform.
Attorney Michael Zelman, who represented Davis during his trial, told Reuters that the time doesnt fit his crimes.
Any law that provides for a mandatory term of imprisonment for a 19-year-old first offender that exceeds a century has got to be unconstitutional, he said.
That's insane! -- Heretic, 12:18:30 07/11/12 Wed
That Homeys kid? (NT) -- guest1, 17:31:31 07/11/12 Wed
That name--Quartavious--kinda set my teeth on edge. -- Pud, 11:52:09 07/12/12 Thu
I'd love to lick that fudgesicle! (NT) -- Mr. Nipples, 12:02:35 07/12/12 Thu