1

1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
2 NORTHERN DIVISION

3
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
4 )
)
5 vs. ) CRIMINAL CASE NO.
) 1:21-CR-00442-RDB
6 )
LAWRENCE RUSSOE, )
7 Defendant. )
_________________________ )
8
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023
9 Courtroom 5D
Baltimore, Maryland
10
TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
11 SENTENCING EXCERPT
BEFORE THE HONORABLE RICHARD D. BENNETT
12

13 For the Government:

14 Jacob Gordin, Esquire

Patricia McLane, Esquire
15 United States Attorney's Office
36 South Charles Street, 5th Floor
16 Baltimore, MD 21201

17
For the Defendant:
18
Cynthia A. Frezzo, Esquire
19 Office of the Federal Public Defender
100 South Charles Street, Tower II
20 Baltimore, MD 21201

21 _______________________________________________________

22 (Computer-aided Transcription of Stenotype Notes)

23 Reported by:
Amanda L. Longmore, RPR
24 Federal Official Court Reporter
101 W. Lombard Street, 4th Floor
25 Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-962-4474

Amanda L. Longmore, RPR - Federal Official Court Reporter

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 (BEGINNING OF EXCERPT:)

2 THE COURT: Mr. Russoe, I just want to personally

3 advise you that you have the right to personally address the

4 Court and speak on your own behalf. Do you wish to make any

5 kind of statement, sir?

6 THE DEFENDANT: No, Your Honor.

7 THE COURT: All right. That's fine. I will tell you

8 that you -- you're 33 years old now, right?

9 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor.

10 THE COURT: You realize you're approaching being an

11 old man for the street. You understand that?

12 THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

13 THE COURT: And the level of violence continues in

14 this metropolitan area, and most recently I guess is we keep a

15 monthly or weekly category of what's happened over at Edmondson

16 Shopping Center near a high school, near Edmondson High School.

17 And I will tell you that I often note, in fact, that

18 you've got three children by three different mothers, and do

19 you want your children to be growing up in this kind of

20 environment in Baltimore?

21 THE DEFENDANT: No, Your Honor.

22 THE COURT: All right. Well, it's a vicious cycle

23 because they are. They're all here in the metropolitan area,

24 correct?

25 THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 THE COURT: All right. And I think the most tragic

2 thing is occasionally there is exchange of gunfire in

3 communities that are prone to this level of violence and then

4 suddenly children are injured. So I think that, you know, the

5 very reason you're here in federal court is because the state

6 system has been overwhelmed by it. So the US Attorney's Office

7 is trying to assist state authorities in handling many of these

8 cases, many of which would ordinarily would not be in federal

9 court because of just the epidemic of violence. So I hope that

10 this allows you to make a change here but, again, you're only

11 going to benefit from the federal system when you get into the

12 federal system.

13 I've conducted the analysis under the Booker and Bell

14 cases as I've indicated, the goal being to impose a sentence

15 which is sufficient but not greater than necessary, and I've

16 considered the four congressionally mandated purposes of

17 sentencing, not only to punish you but deter you and others

18 from criminal conduct.

19 This is not going to make the newspapers. There will

20 be no coverage of it. This is just yet another person going to

21 prison over guns so there is literally no impact on the

22 community of any kind at all, but it does at least protect the

23 public in terms of your pattern of conduct here. And the

24 calculation of the guideline range here is really not what's

25 involved because what is involved here is the matter of

Amanda L. Longmore, RPR - Federal Official Court Reporter

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 avoiding the mandatory minimum sentence that might have faced

2 you if you had been convicted. So it is ordered that -- I'm

3 going to note very carefully, Ms. Maldeis, the wording of this

4 that actually is reflected here on Paper Number 49, Page 5 of

5 the sentencing memo submitted by Ms. Frezzo.

6 You are hereby committed, Mr. Russoe, to the custody

7 of the United States Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a

8 total term of 60 months on Count 1 of the Superseding

9 Indictment which is to begin immediately, starting today, and

10 it will run concurrent with the sentence imposed in Baltimore

11 City Circuit Court Case Number 121193014, and any sentence

12 which is imposed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, and that

13 will be Case Number C-02-CR-20-000314.

14 And I will initially designate your Maryland State

15 prison facility which is now Roxbury, I believe, in Hagerstown

16 for service of your sentence until any state sentence is

17 discharged, at which time you shall serve the remainder of your

18 sentence in the United States Bureau of Prisons facility and I

19 will recommend the Federal Correctional Institution in

20 Cumberland, Maryland.

21 I'm going to recommend that you receive psychological

22 counseling and mental health treatment while you are so

23 incarcerated. I'm going to recommend that you participate in a

24 drug treatment program for which you're eligible and I'm going

25 to recommend that you get vocational training. I will suggest

Amanda L. Longmore, RPR - Federal Official Court Reporter

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 the commercial driver's license training but I can't control

2 what vocational training you get but I will make that

3 recommendation that you get vocational training.

4 You have accepted responsibility for this offense,

5 but you have a serious criminal history, as I've said,

6 involving, robbery, assault, and firearms charges. And your

7 Criminal History Category is the highest of VI, the lowest

8 being I, the highest being VI.

9 After your period of incarceration, I'm going to

10 place you on supervised release for a period of three years

11 with the mandatory and standard conditions of supervision

12 adopted by the Court as well as the following additional

13 conditions. The mandatory conditions that I'm going to go over

14 carefully with you pursuant to recent Fourth Circuit case law

15 which is required in terms of the mandatory conditions and

16 standard conditions, they are as follows:

17 As to the mandatory conditions, you must not commit

18 any other federal, state, or local crime. You must not

19 unlawfully possess a controlled substance. You must refrain

20 from the unlawful use of any controlled substance and you must

21 submit to a drug test within 15 days of your release from

22 imprisonment and any drug test thereafter. Restitution is not

23 involved here, nor is compliance with the sex offender

24 registration but you also must cooperate in the collection of

25 DNA if that is requested by your probation officer. And in

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 short, you must participate in any approved program for

2 violence, for domestic violence that is deemed necessary by the

3 probation officer as well. They are the mandatory conditions

4 which I've just mentioned.

5 The standard conditions are that you must report to

6 the Probation Office in the federal judicial district where

7 you're authorized to reside within 72 hours of your release

8 from imprisonment and abide by all instructions from your

9 probation officer thereafter. After initially reporting, you

10 will get instructions from your probation officer as to when

11 and how to report.

12 You are not to leave the federal judicial district

13 where you are authorized to reside, which is presumably

14 Maryland, without first getting the permission from the Court

15 or the probation officer. You must answer truthfully all

16 questions asked of you by the probation officer and you must

17 live in a place approved by the probation officer, and if you

18 have any reason to change your address, you must notify the

19 probation officer at least ten days prior to that change. If

20 that's not possible, you must notify the probation officer

21 within 72 hours of becoming aware of any change in address, and

22 you must allow the probation officer to visit you at your

23 residence at any time.

24 Furthermore, you must make every effort to obtain

25 full-time employment. I'm not going to order that you get

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 full-time employment because I know it's difficult in terms of

2 the job market but you must make every effort to obtain

3 full-time employment. You are not to communicate or interact

4 with anyone who you have reason to believe is engaged in

5 criminal activity. If you are questioned by law enforcement

6 officials, you must notify the law -- you must notify your

7 probation officer within 72 hours of that contact, within three

8 days, which means that if you were stopped for a traffic ticket

9 you have to notify your probation officer that you've been

10 stopped for a traffic ticket.

11 You must not own, possess, or have access to a

12 firearm, ammunition, destructive device, or any other dangerous

13 weapon. You are not to make any agreement to work with law

14 enforcement without the approval of the Court. If the

15 probation officer determines you pose a risk to any other

16 person, you must abide by the instructions of the probation

17 officer to avoid such contact.

18 In short, you must follow the instructions of your

19 probation officer. All of those I've mentioned are mandatory

20 and standard conditions of supervised release. There's some

21 additional conditions which I'm going to add here, and that is

22 that you must participate in any substance abuse treatment

23 program as deemed necessary. You must submit to substance

24 abuse testing as deemed necessary. You must participate in any

25 mental health treatment program as deemed necessary by the

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 probation officer, and you must participate in a vocational

2 services program as deemed necessary. Furthermore, you must

3 not use, possess, or have any controlled substances without a

4 valid prescription of a medical practitioner.

5 I'm not going to impose a fine in this case,

6 Mr. Russoe, because you're not able to pay a fine, and you have

7 been very ably represented by the Public Defender's Office.

8 There is a $100 special assessment that's required by statute

9 that will be noted in your Judgment and Commitment Order. That

10 will be listed as being paid immediately but it will only be

11 paid in terms of deduction from your prison wages.

12 So, Ms. Maldeis, as to that section, that will not be

13 paid until he's in federal custody. There's no way the federal

14 government can deduct the payment of that from the state system

15 so they'll just have to await his federal custody.

16 You are not a candidate for voluntary surrender here,

17 and we've clarified that your sentence starting today is

18 concurrent with the state sentence.

19 I will advise you of your appeal rights of Paragraph

20 12 of the plea agreement letter. Both you and the Government

21 waived appeal of the agreed sentence of 60 months so it would

22 certainly appear that you have waived it, but if for any reason

23 you did want to note an appeal, you should do so within 14 days

24 of the entry of a Judgment and Commitment Order in this case

25 pursuant to Rule 4(b) of the Federal Rules of Appellate

Amanda L. Longmore, RPR - Federal Official Court Reporter

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 Procedure. If you could not afford an attorney to represent

2 you, an attorney could be appointed to represent you.

3 Ms. Frezzo, you do not need to notify the Court but

4 make sure that your own file reflects that you have discussed

5 it with him and presumably he does not desire to file an appeal

6 in this matter.

7 MS. FREZZO: Yes.

8 THE COURT: Because the sentence is consistent with

9 the plea agreement in this case.

10 And with that, Ms. Maldeis, if you'd leave a copy,

11 I've got a copy of the language here if you need it as opposed

12 to retrieving it. I think you have it --

13 THE CLERK: Yes, I have it.

14 THE COURT: -- as to the concurrency of this

15 sentence.

16 Is there anything further from the point of view of

17 the Government on this matter, Mr. Gordin?

18 MR. GORDIN: No, Your Honor.

19 THE COURT: It's nice to have you here. You're a

20 Special Assistant US Attorney on assignment from what office?

21 MR. GORDIN: The AG's Office.

22 THE COURT: Attorney General's Office, the Criminal

23 Division?

24 MR. GORDIN: Yes.

25 THE COURT: Well, nice to have you here. And I would

Amanda L. Longmore, RPR - Federal Official Court Reporter

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 note we also have with us, again, changing of the guard but not

2 old guard, just new guard, we have with us Amanda Longmore, the

3 court reporter. I hope I didn't go too quickly, and it's nice

4 having you here as well. And Ms. Frezzo, it's nice to have you

5 here in court as well. A lot of new faces here, so it's nice

6 to see.

7 MS. FREZZO: Thank you very much. There is one

8 matter I neglected to mention for Mr. Russoe, and I apologize.

9 We obviously know the Court has issued its sentence. This

10 isn't meant to change anything. Mr. Russoe had written a

11 really brief statement that he wanted me to read into the

12 record.

13 THE COURT: Sure. I'll be glad to hear from you.

14 MS. FREZZO: Thank you. This is from Mr. Russoe:

15 I want to apologize to the courts for all my

16 appearances. I admit to all of my wrongs and I'm seeking help

17 and aid with my drug and alcohol problems. Baltimore is a

18 violent city and I'd love to be able to move out of this city

19 upon my release with my children.

20 And he thanks Your Honor for your time.

21 THE COURT: Sure. And you don't need to apologize to

22 me. You need to look at your family and apologize to them

23 because it becomes a vicious cycle, and the last thing young

24 people in this metropolitan area need is to be in a situation

25 where they don't see their father.

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 And so it's regrettable that you're not the first

2 person who has said to me that he just wants to get out of

3 Baltimore when he's out of prison, and that's really a sad

4 indictment of what's occurring in this metropolitan area, and

5 you and I both know that there are neighborhoods in this city

6 where people can't even walk children down the street, and that

7 is a very, very bad indictment of the Baltimore metropolitan

8 area, and we both know it.

9 So with that, I wish you the best of luck, and with

10 that, I think I'm in recess until 2:30, I believe. This court

11 stands in recess until 2:30. Thank you all very much.

12 (The proceedings concluded at 11:57 a.m.)

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Excerpt of Sentencing - 1/12/23

1 CERTIFICATE OF OFFICIAL REPORTER

4 I, Amanda L. Longmore, Registered Professional

5 Reporter, in and for the United States District Court for the

6 District of Maryland, do hereby certify, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

7 § 753, that the foregoing is a true and correct transcript of

8 the stenographically-reported proceedings held in the

9 above-entitled matter and that the transcript page format is in

10 conformance with the regulations of the Judicial Conference of

11 the United States.

12

13 Dated this 12th day of January 2023

14 -S-

15 ______________________________________

16 AMANDA L. LONGMORE, RPR

FEDERAL OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
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Amanda L. Longmore, RPR - Federal Official Court Reporter