Former Lake Sheriff Buncich seeks sentence reduction due to lack of violent history, age
Attorneys for imprisoned former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich say in a court filing he is an old and frail non-violent offender who qualifies for a reduction in his federal prison term based on new sentencing guidelines effective Nov. 1.
Kerry Connor and Geoffrey Giorgi, who are representing Buncich in the case, filed a motion Nov. 14 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana seeking to reduce the former sheriff’s prison term by 30 months after the U.S. Sentencing Commission made changes to the guidelines that recognized certain offenders — those with no prior criminal history — should be treated more leniently in sentencing.
Buncich, who will be 78 in December, was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison in January 2018 after he was convicted of bribery and wire fraud, among other charges, for soliciting bribes from county tow operators. On Aug. 5, 2020 Buncich was resentenced to 151 months incarceration, one year of supervised release.
Buncich has served 70 months in custody and he is currently at the Medical Facility for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. His projected release date is Oct. 5, 2027, according to the filing.
“Incarceration has taken a heavy toll on John Buncich. He entered the Bureau of Prisons weighing 320 pounds. At present, he weighs approximately 200 pounds. He has lost more than one-third of his body weight,” according to the filing. He underwent lumbar fusion surgery in January 2020 and has experienced a slow and painful recovery while incarcerated, the filing states.
“Today, he walks with a limp, and still reports continued pain in his hip,” according to the filing. “His age, growing frailty and lifetime in law enforcement all make him a potential target of abuse by other inmates.”
Given his rational fear for his physical safety, they argued, his prison life is one of self-imposed isolation and separation. His need to remove himself from daily life activities within the prison results in an existence with little personal interaction or contact, records state.
Connor and Giorgi are asking the court to consider the revised sentencing guidelines approved by the commission given Buncich’s circumstances. During his original sentencing and upon appeal, the courts found Buncich should be sentenced on the low range of the sentencing scale, the filing states.
“Remaining consistent with the purpose of federal sentencing pursuant to (federal code), a federal sentence must be sufficient but not greater than necessary to meet the goals of sentencing,” the filing continued.
They wrote the commission sought retroactive amendment of the guidelines to reflect the mitigating nature of the zero-point offender. The commission noted the determination of eligibility for reduction was simple and determined that orders granting the corresponding reduction should be made effective on or after Feb. 1, 2024.
“He has therefore completed 60% of his servable sentence,” the wrote in the filing. They said Buncich is fully eligible for the sentencing modification consistent with the new rules.
With the new sentencing guideline applied, the advisory range for Buncich’s sentence becomes 121 to 151 months incarceration.
Based on the sentencing factors and the new rules “a sentence of no greater than the low-end of the guidelines, 121 months incarceration is, in fact, fair and just,” they argued in the filing.
“His life up to the point of this conviction was one of devoted public service. There is no plausible or contemplated member of any community in which Mr. Buncich lived or might live in the future that would be at risk in any way by the reduction in his term of imprisonment,” his attorneys wrote in the filing.
Buncich, they said, has been categorized as the very lowest risk in and out of the institution by the Bureau of Prisons and he has not received a single citation, charge, disciplinary violation or action against him of any kind.
“His personal characteristics, including his age, health, and post-conviction behavior, all support a reduction in sentence at or below the low-end of the new guideline range,” they argued.
