United States v. Jeffrey L. West

942 F.2d 528, 1991 WL 159064
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 30, 1991
Docket90-1341
StatusPublished
Cited by74 cases

This text of 942 F.2d 528 (United States v. Jeffrey L. West) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Jeffrey L. West, 942 F.2d 528, 1991 WL 159064 (8th Cir. 1991).

Opinions

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Jeffrey L. West appeals from the sentence imposed upon him after his guilty plea to one count of selling adulterated [530]*530meat food products with intent to defraud in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 601(m)(8), 610(b)1 and 676. He claims that the district judge sentenced him in the erroneous belief that he had no discretion to depart from the sentencing guidelines. He also argues that the district court erred in four respects in applying the guidelines: by enhancing his sentence for supervising a criminal activity that involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(b) and for engaging in a crime involving more than minimal planning, U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1(b)(2); by failing to reduce his offense level by designating him as a “minor participant,” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2; and in assessing the loss to the victim. U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1(b)(1). Finally, he appeals the propriety of the restitution order. We remand to the district court for further proceedings regarding the restitution order, but we affirm the sentence in all other respects.

Jeffrey L. West, his father, Joseph West, and West Meat Co. were charged with selling adulterated meat products with intent to defraud. The State of Missouri was the purchaser of the adulterated meat. Jeffrey L. West pleaded guilty and, after a hearing, was sentenced to a term of 21 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $95,062.72 in restitution.

I.

West attacks the district court’s application of the Sentencing Guidelines in a number of respects.

The most troublesome issue West raises regards the application of U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(b), increasing the offense level due to West’s “aggravating role” as supervisor of a criminal activity that “involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive.” The district court concluded that West’s offense level should be increased under section 3B1.1(b) because there were at least eight employees who “knowingly or unknowingly participated in the instant offense, of which this defendant was an organizer and leader....” United States v. West, No. 89-157CR(3), slip op. at 5 (E.D.Mo. Dec. 29, 1989).

West argues that the other employees were not “participants” within the meaning of the guideline because they had no criminal responsibility for their acts and that therefore his offense level cannot be enhanced under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(b). This argument goes to construction of the guidelines, and we review the question de novo. See United States v. DeCicco, 899 F.2d 1531, 1535 (7th Cir.1990).

While it is quite true that the word “participants” refers to persons criminally responsible for their acts, U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, comment, (n. 1), under the guidelines an “aggravating role” can also be premised on the defendant’s supervision of “otherwise extensive” criminal activity. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(b). The district court’s order indicates that the court relied on this “otherwise extensive” language in applying section 3B1.1 to West: “Where criminal activity is otherwise extensive, it is provided all persons involved ... are to be considered. The Court does so consider them.... ” Slip op. at 5.

Section 3B1.1 has been read by other circuits to require the existence of more than one criminally responsible “participant,” on the strength of the “Introductory Commentary,” which notes that “[w]hen an offense is committed by more than one participant § 3B1.1 ... may apply.” See United States v. Anderson, 942 F.2d 606 (9th Cir.1991) (en banc); United States v. Bierley, 922 F.2d 1061, 1066 (3d Cir.1990); United States v. Carroll, 893 F.2d 1502, 1509 (6th Cir.1990). However, in this case we need not decide whether we would follow this gloss. Because Joseph West and Jeffrey West both pleaded guilty to participation in the same fraud, section 3B1.1 would cover West’s case whether or not we [531]*531interpret the guideline to require more than one participant.2

Once over this threshold hurdle, we are entirely satisfied that the record supports the finding that the criminal activity was “otherwise extensive.” The “otherwise extensive” language refers “to the number of persons involved in the operation,” United States v. Boula, 932 F.2d 651, 654 (7th Cir.1991), and includes “all persons involved during the course of the entire offense,” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, comment, (n. 2), including “outsiders” who did not have knowledge of the facts. Id. In this case, West does not dispute either that he was a supervisor or that at least eight employees participated in the adulteration, though some may have participated without knowledge of the facts making their activities part of a crime. The district court did not err in considering these employees in determining that the criminal activities in this case were “otherwise extensive.”

West also argues he was entitled to a two point reduction in offense level because he was a “minor participant” under the “Mitigating Role” provision, U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b). A “minor participant” is defined as one “who is less culpable than most other participants, but whose role could not be described as minimal,” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, comment, (n. 3). The “Mitigating Role” section as a whole is described as permitting adjustment for a defendant who plays a part in committing the offense that makes him “substantially less culpable than the average participant.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, comment, (backg’d).

West argues that since he was less culpable than Joseph West, he is entitled to the minor participant reduction as a matter of law. Under the guidelines, the mere fact that the defendant was less culpable than his co-defendant does not entitle the defendant to “minor participant” status as a matter of law. In United States v. Rex-ford, 903 F.2d 1280 (9th Cir.1990), the defendant was concededly less culpable than his codefendant, but was still held to have been more than a “minor participant” because he was “deeply involved” in the offense. Id. at 1282-83. In our case, the stipulated facts indicate Jeffrey West was deeply involved in the criminal acts. The district court did not err in denying Jeffrey West a “mitigating role” reduction simply because his father was more culpable.

West argues that the court erred in adding two offense levels because the fraud involved more than minimal planning. U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1(b)(2). West argues that he did not participate in ordering the unauthorized ingredients, formulating the products, or contracting with the State of Missouri. West’s arguments are directed to the nature of his role in the offense, rather than the nature of the offense itself, which is the focus of the “more than minimal planning” language. U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1(b)(2).

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Bluebook (online)
942 F.2d 528, 1991 WL 159064, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-jeffrey-l-west-ca8-1991.