A judge has rejected a request for a shorter prison sentence from a former schoolteacher who admitted receiving help from a federal agent, Joseph Bongiovanni, in trafficking marijuana into Buffalo and its suburbs.
Michael Masecchia, left, walks out of federal court accompanied by his lawyer, Patrick Brown, after being sentenced to 7 years in prison for trafficking marijuana.
Michael Masecchia, who in May 2022 was sentenced to seven years in prison, recently wrote the federal court in Buffalo seeking a retroactive sentence reduction and a court-appointed lawyer to help him make his case for the reduction.
Masecchia based his request on sweeping changes to sentencing guidelines by the U.S. Sentencing Commission that took effect in November.
The changes lowered the guideline sentencing ranges for defendants under…
