Letter to Judge Abrams — United States v. Sheng-Wen Cheng (Southern District of New York, Document 98)

Summary

A letter dated January 24, 2025, from the United States Attorney's Office to the Honorable Ronnie Abrams in United States v. Sheng-Wen Cheng, 21 Cr. 261 (RA) (Document 98). It responds to the Court's January 10, 2025 order on whether the defendant meets section 4C1.1(a)(6), a prerequisite to a sentence reduction under Guidelines Amendment 821. The Government says the agreed range of 78 to 97 months included no increase for "substantial financial hardship" and that it is not advocating that enhancement. It nonetheless urges the Court to use its discretion to decline a reduction, and says it received an additional victim letter opposing one, attached as Exhibit A.

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         Case 1:21-cr-00261-RA          Document 98 Filed 01/24/25 Page 1 of 2
                                                  U.S. Department of Justice
[Type text]
                                                       United States Attorney
                                                       Southern District of New York

                                                       The Jacob K. Javits Building
                                                       26 Federal Plaza, 37th Floor
                                                       New York, New York 10278


                                                       January 24, 2025
By ECF
The Honorable Ronnie Abrams
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
40 Foley Square
New York, New York 10007

       Re:     United States v. Sheng-Wen Cheng, 21 Cr. 261 (RA)

Dear Judge Abrams:

        The Government respectfully submits this letter in response to the Court’s January 10, 2025
order requiring the parties to file letters stating their positions as to whether the defendant, Sheng-
Wen Cheng, meets the criteria of U.S.S.G. § 4C1.1(a)(6), one of the prerequisites to a sentence
reduction under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Amendment 821. (Dkt. 97.)

        Under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), a court may reduce a defendant’s sentence through the
retroactive application of Guidelines Amendment 821. Amendment 821, Part B, Subpart 1, creates
a new provision, Section 4C1.1, which provides a two-level downward adjustment in offense level
for certain offenders who present zero criminal history points and are not subject to any of the ten
exclusionary criteria listed in the new U.S.S.G. § 4C1.1. One such exclusion is Section
4C1.1(a)(6), which provides that a defendant can only receive the zero-point offender adjustment
if the defendant “did not personally cause substantial financial hardship.”

       In this case, the defendant pleaded guilty to Counts One through Four of the Information
(Dkt. 16) pursuant to a plea agreement with the Government. The defendant’s applicable
Guidelines range as calculated by the parties in the plea agreement, the U.S. Probation Office, and
Court was 78 to 97 months. (See Dkt. 35 at 8-9.) That range was based, in part, on the application
of U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(2)(A)(i), as the offenses involved 10 or more victims. The parties’ agreed
upon range did not include an increase for causing “substantial financial hardship” as is otherwise
provided for in U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(2)(A). Accordingly, pursuant to the plea agreement, the
Government is not advocating that any enhancement related to “substantial financial hardship”
apply.

        The Government respectfully submits, for the reasons discussed in the Government’s
November 1, 2024 opposition (Dkt. 91), that the Court should nonetheless use its discretion to
decline to reduce the defendant’s sentence under Amendment 821. Since submitting its opposition,
        Case 1:21-cr-00261-RA          Document 98       Filed 01/24/25      Page 2 of 2

                                                                                           Page 2


the Government has received an additional victim letter opposing a reduction, which it is attaching
hereto as Exhibit A.


                                             Respectfully submitted,

                                             DANIELLE R. SASSOON
                                             United States Attorney



                                         by: _____________________________
                                             Lauren E. Phillips
                                             Assistant United States Attorney
                                             (212) 637-2231

cc:    All counsel of record (via ECF)


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