PHOENIX (AP) — A federal court has denied an appeal for a man who got one of his convictions overturned in an Arizona migrant-smuggling case but then was resentenced to a longer prison term than he'd faced before.
The 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals ruled Friday that Rufino Valdez-Lopez provided no proof that the judge who resentenced Valdez-Lopez acted vindictively by imposing prison sentences adding up to 25 years, up from the 20 years imposed by a since-retired judge.
The resentencing judge said he presumed he had the same information as the first judge but that Valdez-Lopez deserved a significant sentence because his conduct was "incredibly outrageous" and impacted numerous victims.
