The following excerpt is from United States v. Lucas, Docket No. 12-4840-cr (Lead), Docket No. 13-1075-cr (Con), Docket No. 13-743-cr (Con) (2nd Cir. 2014):
Appellants suggest that 18 U.S.C. 3553 endows courts with authority to craft a reasonable sentence that reflects time already served on related state charges. But we have held that the general instructions in 3553 cannot trump a specific statutory command to impose a minimum sentence. See United States v. Samas, 561 F.3d 108, 110 (2d Cir. 2009) ("[A] district court must impose a statutorily mandated sentence even if the court would reach a different determination if it considered only 3553(a)"). Thus, the appellant in Rivers was in a different position than the appellants here - Rivers could point to a statute
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