Newton Independent
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed the 84-month prison sentence imposed on Ramona Cunningham, following her guilty plea to several fraud-related offenses arising from the CIETC matter, U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt announced in a press release this afternoon.
The Court of Appeals concluded that Cunningham's sentence was correctly enhanced under the United States Sentencing Guidelines for obstruction of justice, based on ordering destruction of evidence that would have shown inconsistencies in CIETC's reporting practices prior to an audit and that Cunningham qualified for a sentencing enhancement based on her role as a leader and organizer of criminal activity.
The Court of Appeals also found that the 84-month sentence was not "substantively unreasonable." Instead, the court found that the imposition of the sentence was "amply supported by the record" and did not represent an abuse of discretion by the sentencing judge.
Cunningham's sentence was imposed on Jan. 23, 2009 by Chief District Judge Robert W. Pratt. Her appeal was considered by a three-judge panel of appellate judges with the nine-page ruling affirming her sentence written by Circuit Judge C. Arlen Beam.
You can read a copy of the opinion here.
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