(CN) - A man convicted of 17 counts of violence in a spree of Miami robberies, carjackings and kidnappings targeting gay men must be resentenced after a Florida federal judge granted him a lighter prison term in exchange for an illegally long term of supervised release, a panel of the 11th Circuit ruled on Friday.
Stevenson Charles pleaded guilty in April 2023 to carjacking, kidnapping, bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. His sentence - which consisted of 45 years' imprisonment followed by 15 years of supervised release - exceeded the statutory maximum punishment, a unanimous three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based appeals court found.
The panel ruled that Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Huck did not have authority under the law to increase the five-year statutory maximum term of supervised release by 10 years in exchange for reducing Charles' prison term from life to 45 years.
"That error permeated Charles' entire sentence," Senior U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor wrote on behalf of the panel.
Charles' crime spree began in October 2022 when he robbed and kidnapped or carjacked five victims in Miami after connecting with many of them using the dating app Grindr. As part of his guilty plea, Charles admitted to targeting gay men by inviting them to his home or another location for sex and pulling a gun on them when they arrived.
Charles forced several victims to withdraw money from bank ATMs and made one to drive him to stores where he bought items with the victim's credit card. Charles told victims he hated gay people, believed they should be punished and that he would kill everyone like the victims.
In one instance, Charles targeted a gay victim, kidnapped him and shot him in the head, back and shoulder. The victim survived but suffered permanent injuries from the attack.
According to the panel, the lower court made the sentencing compromise to balance concerns over the violent nature of the crimes and Charles' lack of remorse with his difficult upbringing and young age at the time of the offenses. Charles was 21 and on probation when the crimes occurred.
The appeals panel on Friday rejected Charles' argument that his willing waiver of the statutory maximum punishment eliminated any legal error in the sentence.
"Although defendants may sometimes waive their rights in a criminal proceeding, a statutory maximum punishment is not waivable," Pryor, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote. "Statutory maximums are not 'rights.' They are limits imposed by Congress on the punishment a court may impose."
Pryor was joined in the opinion by U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Luck and U.S. Circuit Judge Britt Grant, both appointees of Donald Trump.
The 10-page decision came just two days after the panel heard arguments in the government's challenge to Charles' sentence.
Bernardo Lopez, a Florida assistant federal public defender who represents Charles, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Charles was separately sentenced in Georgia state court to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole in December following his guilty plea to kidnapping, armed robbery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and aggravated sodomy.
Those charges were related to the kidnapping and robbery of a Georgia couple in November 2022 after one of the victims met Charles through the dating app Scruff. Charles sexually assaulted one of the victims at gunpoint, took both men's wedding rings and forced them to purchase gift cards for him.
Source: Courthouse News Service
