CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Federal prosecutors are urging an appeals court to uphold a prison sentence for a Wyoming man convicted of trying to commission the murder of his parents.
Lawyers for Andrew Silicani, 24, in December asked a federal appeals court in Denver to set aside the 35-year prison sentence he received last year and order a mental health review.
In the pending federal appeal, Silicani’s lawyers argue that his sentence was too harsh. They contend U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal of Cheyenne should have sent him for an evaluation given his long history of mental problems. They said federal sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of just over 24 years.
“On balance, the need to protect the public and to punish Mr. Silicani weighed too heavily in the district court’s sentencing decision, which unduly discounted Mr. Silicani’s documented history of mental illness and the need for the sentence imposed to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities,” Silicani’s lawyers wrote.
Attempts to reach Silicani’s legal team this week were unsuccessful. According to a federal Bureau of Prisons website, he’s serving his sentence at a high-security prison in Colorado.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cheyenne prosecuted Silicani and is representing the government in opposing his appeal. John R. Powell, spokesman for the office, declined comment this week.
Prosecutor Thomas Szott recently filed a brief with the appeals court noting that one of the robbery convictions that sent Silicani to state prison involved an unprovoked stabbing that nearly killed the victim in Cheyenne.
Szott argues in his brief to the appeals court that Silicani’s 35-year sentence is reasonable and that his actions show he presents a danger to his family and the public at large. “In short, Silicani has repeatedly showed utter disregard for the value of human life and suffering, whether his parents’ or complete strangers’,” he wrote.
Silicani was serving time at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins on robbery convictions in 2013 when, according to an FBI agent’s statement, a confidential source contacted prison staff and reported that Silicani had asked if the source would be willing to kill Silicani’s mother and stepfather in Cheyenne.
Another FBI agent began posing as the hit man and communicated with Silicani. According to court statements, Silicani told the agent he didn’t want to pay more than $100,000 for what he called “demolition work.”
Silicani expected to receive $850,000 in life insurance and property, according to court records. The confidential source told law enforcement that Silicani said he planned to buy “a Cadillac Escalade, clothes and jewelry.”
Silicani pleaded guilty last spring to four counts of using the mail to try to commission the murders.
At Silicani’s sentencing hearing last summer, Freudenthal said it was heartbreaking that Silicani wanted to kill his mother after she had supported him through a lifetime of mental health problems.
“For what? For a new car, 10 tattoos and for drugs?” the judge asked him. “To exchange a life for such juvenile desires is hard to comprehend.”
Cheryl Lambert, Silicani’s mother, said at sentencing that it was the saddest day of her life. But Lambert also said she and her husband, John Ott, feared Silicani would try to kill them again if he ever were released.
“You are my son, and I love you forever,” Lambert said. “Now my real grieving begins as I learn to let go of you, my son and my only child.”
Silicani addressed his parents at the sentencing hearing last summer, saying, “Even if you don’t believe me, I want you to know that I have no intention of hurting either of you.”
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