55-Year Sentence in Utah Drug Case Revives Mandatory Minimum Sentence Debate

By Brian Cole

Published on December 06, 2006

Angelos, a Utah record producer with two children, was found guilty of 16 counts of drug and weapons charges after officers arranged three drug buys from him, during which he was carrying a gun.

U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell said the mandatory sentence he was forced to impose was unjust, cruel, and irrational. He recommended the 55-year sentence be commuted by the president. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the sentence, and the last hope for Angelos was likely the Supreme Court.

In opposition to the sentence, four former U.S. attorney generals and 141 other state attorney generals, U.S. attorneys, and officials in the Justice Department, filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to take up the case, citing the constitutional protection against excessive punishment.

In comparison to other crimes, says Erik Luna, Angelos’ attorney, the sentence is clearly excessive. According to Luna, a person convicted of hijacking an airplane would likely get 24 years and 5 months, and a person blowing up a bomb in an attempt to kill someone would receive less than 20 years.

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