HARRISBURG- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Angel Luis Carrasco-Rivera a/k/a Manuel Calcagno, age 54, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today before Chief United States District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner to committing perjury.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Carrasco-Rivera was charged with perjury in connection with his recent prosecution and conviction for mail fraud. The fraud prosecution involved Carrasco-Rivera obtaining more than $102,000 by filing false claims for unemployment compensation benefits from 2008 through late 2012. He was sentenced in June 2016 to serve 18 months in prison for that offense.
After Carrasco-Rivera’s sentencing, it was learned that he purposely failed to correct inaccurate information in his presentence report regarding his criminal history. It was learned that Carrasco-Rivera was prosecuted and convicted of a drug trafficking crime in Massachusetts in 1991 under the name Manuel Calcagno and was sentenced to a 20-year prison term for that crime. That conviction was not included in Carrasco-Rivera’s criminal history in the presentence report, resulting in a lower advisory sentencing guideline range in his case. When he was ordered to appear before the court regarding the inaccuracy, Carrasco-Rivera lied under oath to the court when he explained how he became associated with the Calcagno name. A sentencing date will be set at a later time.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney James T. Clancy is prosecuting the case.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The maximum penalty for the offense under federal law is five years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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