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03-2494 U.S. v. Rodriguez-Cardenas

By: dmc-admin//April 5, 2004//

03-2494 U.S. v. Rodriguez-Cardenas

By: dmc-admin//April 5, 2004//

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“Rodriguez-Cardenas notes that in recent opinions we have continued to endorse the proposition that where a defendant’s offense level is tied only to drug amounts he personally handled he is precluded from receiving a § 3B1.2 reduction, a position that directly contradicts a 2001 amendment to the sentencing guidelines. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, comment. (n.3(A)) and App. C, amend. 635; cf., e.g., United States v. Brown, 136 F.3d 1176, 1185-86 (7th Cir. 1998); United States v. Burnett, 66 F.3d 137, 140 (7th Cir. 1995). The amendment, effective on November 1, 2001, explicitly rejected our position in Burnett, 66 F.3d at 140, and stated that in all types of offenses, the court must consider the defendant’s conduct against the relevant conduct that he is held accountable for at sentencing, and even in cases where the defendant is held accountable only for conduct in which he was personally involved, he is not precluded from receiving the reduction. U.S.S.G., App. C, amend. 635.”

“Since the enactment of the amendment, we have unintentionally repeated language from pre-amendment opinions that appears to be more consistent with our now-rejected view that a defendant held accountable only for his own conduct cannot qualify for the mitigating-role reduction. See Corral, 324 F.3d at 874 (citing United States v. Brown, 136 F.3d 1176, 1185-86 (7th Cir. 1998) for the proposition that we consider ‘whether the defendant was a minor participant in the crime for which he was convicted, not whether he was a minor participant in some broader conspiracy that may have surrounded it’ and that ‘one cannot be a minor participant with respect to his own actions’); Arocho, 305 F.3d at 640-41 (citing the pre-2001 amendment language of § 3B1.2); United States v. Crowley, 285 F.3d 553, 560 (7th Cir. 2002) (citing United States v. Felix-Felix, 275 F.3d 627, 637 (7th Cir. 2001) for the proposition that ‘a minor role reduction was particularly unnecessary here because the district court held Ms. Crowley responsible only for the drugs she herself obtained’); United States v. Brumfield, 301 F.3d 724, 736 (7th Cir. 2002) (holding that the district court properly denied the reduction where the ‘defendant has been held accountable only for the drugs that he personally handled’); Felix-Felix, 275 F.3d at 637 (holding that where the defendant ‘was sentenced only for the drugs that he himself “had his hands on” at the house . . . made the downward departure neither necessary, nor, under our interpretation of the existing guidelines, appropriate’); United States v. Hunt, 272 F.3d 488, 497 (7th Cir. 2001) (citing United States v. Griffin, 150 F.3d 778, 787 (7th Cir. 1998) for the proposition that ‘Hunt was held accountable only for his conduct and therefore was ineligible for such a reduction’). In contrast to the unintended language in these decisions, a defendant is no longer precluded from receiving a reduction under § 3B1.2 even if he is held accountable only for his own conduct. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, comment. (n.3(A)). Recognition of Amendment 635 necessitates that we disavow our post-amendment cases to the extent that they can be read as inconsistent with the amended guideline.”

“However, this change has no effect on the outcome of this appeal because the parties agreed that Rodriguez-Cardenas was not precluded from receiving the minor-participant reduction, and the district court considered his level of culpability as compared to his co-conspirator. Id.; see Corral, 324 F.3d at 874.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Bucklo, J., Rovner, J.

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