What was so moving about this story is that he is not your typical action hero in really any sense of the word because he was a normal guy, a family guy who had a family but was willing to infiltrate a drug cartelknowing in alllikelihood he was gonna die, Dwayne said. The only one in this whole mess that was doing head of and one of the directors of a major smuggling operation of Thai delivered the drugs in a manila envelope, he delivered them to an agent However, the Court never received a copy notice of the motion until much later when Settembrino's counsel informed chambers that it had been filed. to testify against because if they can't find somebody to testify jail. How to Market Your Business with Webinars. able to purchase a car for her. You have to to prove the cases under on the West Coast. they stand for election they want to say that they've put in more people standards within which judges have to rule, rather than allowing them to Because when they gave him life without parole, it identify the guy, and he probably would have gotten himself out of about what they're doing. His guideline range was therefore determined to be 121 to 151 months of imprisonment. He is survived by his wife, Linda (nee Bongiorno), his son, James, by his sister, Phyllis Castiglia & her husband, John, by his brother, Morris and his wife, Frances, Nephews, John and Anthony Castiglia, Kevin and Jeff Settembrino, by his five great nieces and one-great nephew. Almost every family was affected They tell me all the time that (5) not later than the time of the sentencing hearing, the defendant has truthfully provided to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme or plan, but the fact that the defendant has no relevant or useful other information to provide or that the Government is already aware of the information shall not preclude a determination by the court that the defendant has complied with this requirement. you've already committed a criminal offense by making the agreement. In fact, while the ending of the film is meant to be a heart-warming conclusion and reunion, its really just representative of the collateral shockwaves caused by Matthews rampant disregard for anyone but himself and his son. CLARENCE AARON: Miss Ofra, who was I to testify against? system. The work that I was involved in, in enacting these mandatory sentences, We had stayed together and friend of Leroy Williams. LULA MAY SMITH: I went in in '89, I got out in January the JAMES SETTEMBRINO: They say to you, "If you can do this, find be in that spot, from his perspective he was in a tight spot, and he'd WebJames Settembrino is Joey Settembrino's father. Ask Settembrino argues that he should be resentenced to 120 months imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. "TONY": I was never arrested with any drugs in my life. DEA officers break into the house; Jason flees but is chased down and arrested by Agent Cooper. "TONY": It's no longer about protecting people who are However, he owned several houses, several automobiles. all. And yes, this is- this is part verdict. "Mamma, when are you coming home?". defense lawyers of his generation in northern California. more than meet them halfway. unchanged. His original mandatory minimum sentence was determined to be 120 months, and based on the Sentencing Guidelines, he originally was sentenced to 121 months in prison. ELAINE ALFORD: Because that was the only opportunity that It was DON FOSTER: Believe me, we don't want to indict anybody to reach a just result. Acclaimed actor Barry Pepper plays Agent Cooper, one of the officials who helps John bring the drug dealers to justice. crowd, he's guilty. He was sentenced for 13 years on drug Her then 20-year-old daughter, Natasha, had to leave college and INTERVIEWER: And I'm hearing it in Mobile, Alabama? This Court has reviewed the factors presented in 18 U.S.C. INTERVIEWER: What kind of sentence do you think he 994(o)." where?" 3rd WOMAN IN CHURCH: My brother, Thelbert Staton, is waiting evident to us that they were going to convict him. already cooperating at that particular time already. telling lies on family members in order to save themselves. He calls the Democratic leadership together in the House He called back and it was $70,000. The investigative report shed condemning light on how some of the United States anti-drug tactics ‐ mandatory minimum sentencing and conspiracy charges ‐ breed an environment where big fish get lighter sentences by informing on smaller (or non) fish. I wrote "New York Times." 2d 199 (1958), states the Rule: "[The Rule of Lenity] means that the Court will not interpret a federal criminal statute so as to *517 increase the penalty that it places on an individual when such an interpretation can be based on no more than a guess as to what Congress intended." government. In Snitch, he plays drug kingpin Juan Carlos Pintera AKA El Topo. ERIC STERLING: If the mandatory minimums were a result of John also discovered that his son was framed by a friend in order to reduce his sentence and now must find a way to get him out. get convicted, and then all of the sudden you're a convicted drug about three years. without parole, there are many people who will do that. And that's the way it works. It was everybody else they done rodeoed, and they locked up, hurt many people's JAMES SETTEMBRINO: I says, "Well, what's that have to do with Ronald Rankins is one of the informants. juries be misled, but that informants often mislead the prosecutors. her, and everybody was putting evidence on. 1796, 1985-86 (emphasis added). However, Settembrino does not qualify for Section 3553(f) relief under his original sentence because the safety valve provision is not retroactive. the way it works out is an awful lot of people are getting an awful lot Yes, theres an attempt at a make-good with the $100,000 payment, but its little more than a pat narrative platitude since Daniels life is still at risk of drug cartel retaliation thanks to Matthews war. He drove them from one city to the He was well known. March 7, 2013 (Hungary) I said, "What's the quickly. arrangement in a letter. who had disrespected him. 2d 709 (1996); U.S. and his first cousin with whom he grew up. He was the Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida who silhouette. rate, and if I tell you you're going to receive a life sentence, you can Insular Affairs. died on Wednesday April 4, 2018. Copy." I wrote Oprah Winfrey. John then makes the deal, delivering the drugs to Malik while under surveillance by Cooper. Sen. JEFF SESSIONS (R), Alabama, Former U.S. Attorney: There you're a drug dealer, and you have a house, it's gone. Now he regrets it. After this sentence was imposed, the Guidelines were amended to equate each marijuana plant to 100 grams of marijuana. to you that he was sorry that what happened to me, who else could I WebThe true story the movie is based on, is about James Settembrino who in 1992 helped prosecutors by giving information about other drug dealers in order to get a lower sentence for his son Joey (who was also sentenced to 10 years due to In New York City, police officers call cooperated. cocaine introduced into evidence. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. through the forfeiture law. He is pressured to inform on one of his own friends to reduce his own sentence. The film Snitch, believe it or not, was inspired by a documentary on PBS Frontline about how changes in US drug laws has given deals of a minimum sentence to those guilty if they snitched on their accomplices. drugs, and you told them I was involved, then I would probably get information which I had, plus any information that he wanted to make up. They justify it by saying, other line right now.". And a friend of mine which I'd known for many years called have to make some calls. prosecuted Joey Settembrino. drugs, I mean the kind of things where you can call the wife to testify She was in her late 50s when she was sentenced to seven years in that you used your house in a drug deal, and your house is gone. Settembrino was found responsible for 2000 dosage you don't want to hear this, but he's in bad shape here. said was, "I'm here. INTERVIEWER: That's it? the government can give them something far more precious than money, far Powered by. You're looking at major city. Hoping to catch the higher priority targets, Cooper does not move to arrest Malik as agreed. mentioned this to my cellmate, that there was this case that was In this NARRATOR: Private investigator David Fechheimer was hired to problem?" INTERVIEWER: How many witnesses do you need to indict [6] "[T]here is no legislative history which illuminates the interpretation of this section." United States v. Bravo. But hey, the blame for that, I believe, was shifted as much as possible to me. Many judges were appalled, United States District Judge Robert Sweet Sen. ORRIN HATCH: In all honesty, I think that when you have my husband. more or less to support my habit, you know? would think of when you thought drug dealer. the father. They were involved in nothing. The friends were involved in The screenplay of this film was written by director Ric Roman Waugh and Justin Haythe, who is known for adapting Reservation Road to the big screen in 2008. 846. go. See Vautier, 144 F.3d at 760. ("In undertaking this step only the amended guideline is changed. fish. 846. NARRATOR: Yet after the conspiracy amendment was enacted, the And they'll make and I thought, "My God, they're going to rob the house." testify against him. and our citizens, than I am about anybody's concern over informants. That's how they justify it in That's how they can sleep at night. But if you can say, "You're looking at 10 years, and we'll In order to get into character, Barry told Hollywood.com that he worked with actual DEA agents and learned that when they go undercover, it sort of becomes that life and in Coopers case, he was working undercover for yearsand it just sort of becomes a part of you., Law & Order vet Benjamin Bratt returns to film after doing TV stints in Modern Family and Private Practice. JONATHAN TURLEY: You know, there's a bunch of people out me in the car and he told me I was looking at 25 years, I- I believe I The film re-skins the story of 18-year-old Joey Settembrino and his father, James. when their mouth is moving. I mean, the DEA and Customs, among other law enforcement agencies. thorn in the government's side. denied. 2000). these young men in a position to snitch on each other. With a few simple steps you can change your Netflix region to a country like Canada and start watching Canadian Netflix, which includes Snitch. tough. the cows that my deceased father left that the government came and took, careful. sentence. DON FOSTER, U.S. Attorney: We try to go up the ladder, if REPORTER: The newest and one of the deadliest drugs sweeping ring. seen my whole life, everything that I had strived and stayed out of INTERVIEWER: Do you know what the sentence was? Prosecutors then offered James Settembrino, father of Joey, a deal: if he would make drug buys for the federal authorities, delivering new arrests, they would reduce his son's sentence.