United States v. Garcia

58 F. App'x 69
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 7, 2003
DocketNo. 01-3306
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 58 F. App'x 69 (United States v. Garcia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Garcia, 58 F. App'x 69 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant, Roman Hernandez Garcia, appeals from the judgment of conviction and sentence entered by the district court on March 20, 2001, following Defendant’s guilty plea conviction for one count of conspiracy to distribute over 100 grams of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, for which Defendant was sentenced to a term of sixty months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release.

On appeal, Defendant claims that the district court erred in refusing to apply the safety valve provision of USSG § 5C1.2 when imposing sentence. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM Defendant’s sentence.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Procedural History

On July 13, 2000, a federal grand jury sitting in the Southern District of Ohio, returned a twenty-nine count indictment charging Defendant and several other individuals with various criminal offenses in connection with a heroin drug trafficking scheme. Defendant was charged in Counts 1, 27, and 28 of the indictment, and thereafter pleaded guilty to Count 1 which charged Defendant with conspiracy to distribute over 100 grams of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and § 841(b)(B)(i).

On March 13, 2001, a sentencing hearing was held at which time the district court addressed two objections made by Defendant to the presentence investigation report (“PSR”). One of the objections concerned a two-point reduction to Defendant’s base offense level for Defendant’s minor role in the offense pursuant to USSG § 3B1.2. The other objection concerned a two-point “safety valve” reduc[70]*70tion in Defendant’s offense level pursuant to USSG § 5C1.2. The district court allowed for the two-point reduction under USSG § 3B1.2, but denied the “safety valve” reduction under USSG § 5C1.2. Defendant was sentenced to sixty months’ imprisonment to be followed by five years’ supervised release. Defendant filed this timely appeal challenging the district court’s refusal to apply the “safety valve” reduction of USSG § 5C1.2 at sentencing.

Facts

In January of 2000, the Columbus office of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) learned that a Mexican-based heroin trafficking organization set up in California had established two different cells of operation in Ohio. One of the cells was located in Columbus, Ohio, and the other cell was located in Steubenville, Ohio. DEA Special Agent Michael Flynn was assigned to the case and during the course of Agent Flynn’s investigation, he and other DEA agents observed over twenty heroin transactions involving Defendant and other individuals named in the indictment.

The DEA in Columbus learned that Defendant and Henry Ramirez-Becerra, used their apartment located at 8707 Oak Village Boulevard as a base of operations for the Columbus area heroin drug dealing. Agent Flynn testified that through surveillance, it was established that Defendant and Becerra had a pattern of making heroin deliveries throughout the Columbus metropolitan area near convenience stores, public gas stations, and residential neighborhoods. Flynn further testified that the DEA learned that Becerra had three vehicles registered in his name, and that Defendant and Becerra would rotate these vehicles when making their heroin deliveries to avoid detection. The DEA also learned that numerous telephone calls were being made from the Oak Village Boulevard location to multiple pay telephones around the Columbus metropolitan area, with most of pay phones located at gas stations and convenience stores.

Through a confidential source, the DEA in Columbus arranged for controlled buys from Defendant and Becerra on May 12, May 24, and June 6, 2000, at which time approximately 0.722 net grams of black tar heroin was sold for $250.

On June 15, 2000, as a result of a nationwide investigation into the Mexican heroin trafficking organization, numerous arrests were made around the country, including arrests in Columbus and Steubenville, Ohio. Defendant’s apartment was searched on June 15, 2000 as part of the nationwide sweep, and the result of the search revealed 13.6 grams of heroin, approximately $33,700 in cash, other drug paraphernalia, cash money transfer documents, and four vehicles. Defendant was arrested following the search of the apartment. He waived his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and admitted to his involvement in the black tar heroin organization. The heroin recovered from Defendant’s apartment was later tested and found to be 65% pure.

Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute over 100 grams of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. At the sentencing hearing, Defendant argued that the “safety valve” provision of USSG § 5C1.2 should be applied to his case. The government disagreed claiming that Defendant failed to provide complete and accurate information regarding his role in the offense as well as the other individual’s roles in the enterprise. The district court agreed with the government and denied the § 5C1.2 reduction.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

“The trial court’s refusal to apply § 5C1.2 is a factual finding which [this [71]*71Court] review[s] for clear error.” United States v. Salgado, 250 F.3d 438, 459 (6th Cir .2001).

The purpose of § 5C1.2 is to reduce some of the harsh inflexibility of mandatory minimum sentences by enabling courts to account more fully for mitigating factors when sentencing those defendants who are considered the least culpable participants in drug trafficking cases. United States v. Maduka, 104 F.3d 891, 893 (6th Cir.1997) (citing United States v. Adu, 82 F.3d 119, 121 (6th Cir.1996)). Sentencing Guideline § 5C1.2 was enacted to reflect verbatim the requirements set forth in 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(F)(l)-(5), and allows a court to impose sentences below the statutory minimum penalty in those instances when a defendant meets five specific criteria. Salgado, 250 F.3d at 459 A defendant seeking the application of § 5C1.2 bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that he is entitled to the “safety valve” reduction. Id. (citing Adu, 82 F.3d at 123-24).

Of the five criteria necessary for the reduction to apply, only the fifth criterion is at issue here, and that criterion specifies as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
58 F. App'x 69, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-garcia-ca6-2003.