The question wasn’t whether Futo Charles committed gang-related crimes: Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal quickly and without comment affirmed his convictions on racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and possession of ecstasy and marijuana.
At issue, according to the judicial panel, was whether the 66-year prison term to which Charles was sentenced was unfair because Palm Beach Circuit Judge Karen Miller relied on impermissible factors in sentencing. The question: did the trial judge hand down the maximum sentence to “send a message” to the community?
