The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has upheld sentences involving no prison for two men convicted of fraud in Boston’s Big Dig project, despite a Federal Sentencing Guidelines range starting at more than seven years in prison.
On July 13, a unanimous panel affirmed sentences issued by Judge Richard Stearns of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts for two convictions linked to the $15 billion highway project. In May 2010, Stearns sentenced Robert Prosperi and Gregory Stevenson to three years’ probation plus six months’ electronic home monitoring and 1,000 hours of community service. He also fined Prosperi $15,000 plus a $13,500 special assessment, and he fined Stevenson $5,000. Stearns calculated the guidelines sentencing range as 87 months to 108 months of incarceration for each defendant. The government asked for 70-month sentences for each.
