State v. Buza

Sentencing is primarily a function of the trial court. Trial judges have considerable discretion in sentencing, particularly in sentencing a first felony offender, such as Buza, who had no prior criminal record and a significant history of positive accomplishments in his life. Given Buza’s prior history, Judge Hunt had discretion to treat him with leniency. On the other hand, Buza’s crime was a serious class B felony. Buza embezzled approximately $100,000 from his employer, engaging in numerous separate thefts over a lengthy period of time.

This court has upheld as not clearly mistaken…