Ralph Herman Fox, Jr. v. United States
Whether in affirming the imposition of the statutory maximum sentence of 360 months on Ralph Fox, where (1) Petitioner Fox entered a guilty plea and (2) the government agreed to recommend a sentence of 240 months, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has so far departed from the accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings, and sanctions such a departure by the district court, as to call for the exercise of this Court's supervisory powers in that:
It violates every notion of fairness, due process, and common sense, and also violates crucial public policy considerations, for the district court to impose the statutory maximum sentence (360 months) on a defendant who entered into a plea agreement with the government, where the record shows that in exchange for the guilty plea, the experienced and highly-qualified Assistant United States Attorney agreed to, and in fact did recommend a sentence of no more than 240 months?
Whether the district court violated due process and public policy by imposing the statutory maximum sentence despite the government's plea agreement to recommend a lower sentence