Plea Agreement as to George Arestuche (ogn1) — United States v. Arestuche (Dkt. 16, S.D. Fla. No. 1:25-cr-20001)

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U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida · No. 1:25-cr-20001-PCH · Doc. 16 · 2025-02-24 · Docket on CourtListener

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT CO URT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT O F FLORIDA
Case No. 25-20001-Cr-HUCK/LOUIS
UNITED STATES OF AM ERICA
VS .
GEO RG E A RESTUCHE,
Defendant.
I
PLEA AG REEM ENT
The Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida (nthis
Office'') and the defendant, GEORGE ARESTUCHE, enter into the following agreement:
Pursuant to Rule 7(b)of the Federal Rules ofCriminal Procedure, the
defendant agrees to waive indictm ent and to plead guilty to a one-countfelony Inform ation
charging him w ith conspiracy to com m it wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Section 371.
The defendant is aware that his sentence will be im posed by the Court after
considering the advisory Federal Sentencing G uidelines and Policy Statem ents
(hereinafter ddsentencing Guidelinesn). The defendant acknowledges and understands
that the Court will compute an advisory sentence under the Sentencing G uidelines and
that the applicable guidelines will be determ ined by the Court àelying in part on the results
of a pre-sentence investigation by the Court's probation office, w hich investigation w ill
commence after the guilty plea has been entered. The defehdant is also aware that,
under certain circum stances, the Court m ay depart from the advisory sentencing
guideline range that it has com puted and m ay raise or Iower that advisory sentence under
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the Sentencing Guidelines. The defendant is further aware and understands that the
Court is required to consider the advisory guideline range determ ined under the
Sentencing G uidelines, but is not bound to im pose a sentence w ithin that advisory range',
the Coud is perm itted to tailor the ultim ate sentence in Iight of other statutory concerns,
and such sentence may be either more severe or Iess severe than the Sentencing
G uidelines' advisory range. Know ing these facts, the defendant understands and
acknowledges thpt the Court has the authority to impose any sentence within and up to
the statutory m axim um authorized by Iaw for the offense identified in paragraph 1 and
that the defendant m ay not withdraw the plea solely as a result of the sentence im posed.
3. 
The defendant also understands and acknow ledges that the Court m ay
im pose a statutory m axim um term of im prisonm qnt of up to 5 years followed by a term of
supervised release of up to 3 years, a fine of up to $250,000, may order forfeiture, and
m ust order restitution. The Court also m ust im pose a special assessm ent in the am ount
of $100, and the defendant agrees to pay the special assessment imposed at the time of
'sentencing.
4. 
This Office reserves the right to inform the Court and the probation office of
aII facts pertinent to the sentencing process, including aII relevant inform ation concerning
the offenses com m itted, w hether charged or not, as w ell as concerning the defendant and
the defendant's background. Subject only to the express terms of any agreed-upon
sentencing recom m endations contained in this agreem ent, this Office fudher reserves the
right to m ake any recom m endation as to the quality and quantity of punishm ent.
5. 
This Office agrees that it w ill recom m end at sentencing that the Court
reduce by two levels the sentencing guideline Ievel applicable to the defendant's offense,
pursuant to Section 3E1.1(a) of the Sentencing Guidelines, baseà upon tlne defendant's
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recognition and affirm ative and tim ely acceptance of personal responsibility. If at the tim e
of sentencing the defendant's offense Ievel is determ ined to be 16 or greater, the
governm ent w ill file a m otion requesting an additional one Ievel decrease pursuant to
Section 3E1.1(b) of the Sentencing Guidelines, stating that the defendant has assisted
authorities in the investigation or prosecution of the defendant's own m isconduct by tim ely
notifying authorities of the defendant's intention to enter a plea of guilty, thereby perm itting
the governm ent to avoid preparing for trial and perm itting the governm ent and the Court
to allocate their resources efficiently. This Office however, will not be required to m ake
this recommendation (or any agreed recommendation contained within this plea
agreement) if the defendant: (1) fails or refuses to make a full, accurate and complete
disclosure to the probation office of the circumstances surrounding the relevant offense
conduct', (2) is found to have misrepresented facts to the government prior to entering
into this plea agreement; or (3) commits any misconduct after entering into this plea
agreem ent, including but not Iim ited to com m itting a state or federal offense, violating any
term of release, or m aking false statem ents or m isrepresentations to any governm ental
entity or official.
6. 
This Office and the defendant agree that, although not bïnding on the Court
or the probation office, they will jointly recommend that the Court make the following
findings and conclusions as to the sentence to be imposed: (a) the applicable Sentencing
Guidelines section for the olense is 2B1.1 ; (b) pursuant to Section 2B1 .1(a)(2), the
applicable base offense Ievel is 6',(c) the loss in this case was between $150,001 and
$250,000, and as a result, pursuant to Section 2B1.1(b)(1)(F), the defendant's offense
Ievel should be increased by 10 Ievels', and (d) if the defendant is found to meet aII the
criteria set out in Section 4C1 .1(a)(1)-(10), then the defendant's offense Ievel should be
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L
reduced by two Ievels pursuant to Section 4C1.1(a). In additlon, assuming the defendant
is found to qualify for Crim inal History Category 1, and earns both the zero-point offender
reduction and the reduction for acceptance of responsibility, then it is the governm ent's
position that the defendant's final offense Ievel should be Level 1 1 , w ith an advisory
G uidelines Zone B sentencing range of 8-14 m onths in prison.
7. 
Although not binding on the Court or the probation office, this Office further
agrees that if the defendant qualifies as a zero-point offender, earns the reduction for
acceptance of tesponsibility, and com plies w ith aII the term s of his bond, then this Office
will, after full consideration of the facts and circum stances of this case in Iight of the
advisory Sentencing G uidelines range and the factors set out in Title 18, United States
Code, Section 3553(a), recommend that the defendant be sentenced at the Iow end of
the 8-14 m onth advisory Guidelines sentencing range that is recom mended in Paragraph
6 of this Plea Agreem ent
8. 
The defendant is aware that the sentence has not yet been determ ined by
the Coud. The defendant also is aware that any estim ate of the probable sentencing
range or sentence that the defendant m ay receive, whether that estim ate com es from the
defendant's attorney, the governm ent, or the probation office, is a predictiön, not a
prom ise, and is not binding on the governm ent, the probation office or the Court. The
defendant understands further that any recom m endation that the government m akes to
the Court as to sentencing, w hether pursuant to this agreem ent or otherwise, is not
binding on the Court and the Court m ay disregard the recom m endation in its entirety.
The defendant understands and acknowledges, as previously acknowledged above, that
the defendant m ay not w ithdraw his plea based upon the Court's decision not to accept
4
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a sentencing recom m endation m ade by the defendant, the governm ent, or a
recommendation made jointly by both the defendant and the government.
9. 
The defendant also understands and acknow ledges that the Court m ust
order restitution for the full am ount of the victim 's Iosses pursuant to Title 18, United
States Code, Section 3663A.
10. 
The defendant is aw are that Title 18, United States Code, Section 3742 and
Title 28, United States Code, Section 1291 afford the defendant the right to appeal the
sentence im posed in this case. Acknow ledging this, in exchange for the undertakings
m ade by the United States in this plea agreem ent, the defendant hereby w aives aII rights
conferred by Sections 3742 and 1291 to appeal any sentence im posed, including any
restitution order, or to appeal the m anner in which the sentence w as im posed, unless the
sentence exceeds the m axim um perm itted by statute or is the result of an upward
. 
depadure and/or an upward variance from the advisory guideline range that the Coud
establishes at sentencing. The defendant further understands that nothing in this
agreem ent shall affect the governm ent's right and/or duty to appeal as set forth in Title
18, United States Code, Section 3742(b) and Title 28, United States Code, Section 1291.
However, if the United States appeals the defendant's sentence pursuant to Sections
3742(b) and 1291 , the defendant shall be released from the above waiver of appellate
rights. By signing this agreement, the defendant acknow ledges that he has discussed
5
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the appeal waiver set forth in this agreem ent w ith his attorney. The defendant further
agrees, together w ith the United States, to request that the Court enter a specific finding
that the defendanrs waiver of the defendant's right to appeal the sentence to be im posed
in this case was knowing and voluntary.
. 1 1. 
This is the entire agreem ent and understanding between this Office and the
defendant. There are no other agreem ents, prom ises, representations, or
understandings.
HAYDEN P. O 'BYRNE
UNITED STATES ATTO RNEY
,Z h R * XU
Date: 
kf
A
By:
E ward N. Stam m
Assistant United States Attorney
By :
By :
a CO ara , Sq.
Att rn y for Def ndant George Arestuche
Geo 
Ar tu e
Defe 
nt
2./2422.5
Date:
JZ 24 JV
D ate:
6
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