Issues with Sentencing, Post-Conviction Relief, and Due Process Essay

Issues with Sentencing, Post-Conviction Relief, and Due Process
Student’s Name
Institution
Issues with Sentencing, Post-Conviction Relief, and Due Process
The criminal justice field is responsible for punishing offenders to protect the public and ensuring that individual rights are not infringed upon. Some of the issues involved in this field relate to sentencing post-conviction relief and due process. This paper aims to discuss these issues concerning a recent court case United States v. Francesco Guerra, Docket Number: 15-cr-20471 (S.D. Fla.). This case is about a Peruvian man who was sentenced to 90 months’ imprisonment for managing a call center that defrauded elderly American citizens (U.S. Department of Justice, n.d.a). 
Crime Model
In the case above, the due process model was used. The due process model focuses on ensuring the justice process is fair and just for everyone rather than on the efficiency of the process (Kaylor, 2014). The U.S. government issued an indictment against Francesco Guerra and his co-conspirators and they were arrested by Peruvian authorities in July 2016 (U.S. Department f Justice, 2019). They were extradited to the U.S. in December 2019 to face prosecution. The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with the assistance of the Peruvian National Police. The indictment of the accused was not taken as a confirmation that a crime had been committed but rather as an allegation. As such the accused were considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law (U.S. Department of Justice, 2019). The case was prosecuted in Miami, Florida and it was the responsibility of the prosecutor to prove the guilt of the accused. The due process model requires the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused at every single stage of the process (Kaylor, 2014). Sentencing was issued in June 2020 after the accused plead guilty. It took about four years to bring the accused to justice. 
I agree with this model because even though the offender was not American, he was treated with dignity and his rights were protected. This instills confidence in the U.S. justice system and ensures that in the end, both the offender and the victim get justice and in a fair manner. Some of the issues that relate to due process include individual rights and a fair and just process (Kaylor, 2014). However, following the due process can be costly and time-consuming because the model is not about the efficiency of the system. The model’s main focus is not protecting the victims, but the accused. This is essential in ensuring that innocent people are not convicted wrongly.
Sentencing
Sentencing occurs after an accused person pleads guilty or is found guilty by a court of law (Davis, 2019). In the case in question, the defendant pled guilty, and sentencing of 90 months imprisonment was issued in June 2020. According to the Florida sentencing guidelines, an individual who engages in any scheme to defraud others using communication technology commits a 2nd-degree felony (Florida Department of Corrections, 2018). This is punishable by sentencing to a period that does not exceed 15 years imprisonment (The Florida Senate, n.d.). Francesco Guerra was sentenced to a 90 months&...