Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-04-02154/USCOURTS-ca8-04-02154-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Darrell Gene Andersen
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

 The Honorable Linda R. Reade, United States District Judge for the Northern

District of Iowa.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

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No. 04-2154

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United States of America,

Appellee,

v.

Darrell Gene Andersen,

Appellant.

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Appeal from the United States

District Court for the

Northern District of Iowa.

 [UNPUBLISHED]

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Submitted: November 15, 2004

 Filed: December 6, 2004

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Before MURPHY, HANSEN, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Darrell Gene Andersen pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute

methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841, and possessing methamphetamine

while on release from jail, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 844. The district court1

sentenced him to a total of 150 months in prison and eight years of supervised release.

Appellate Case: 04-2154 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/06/2004 Entry ID: 1841134 
2

Following submission of this case, the appellant filed a pro se motion to stay

the appeal pending the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker, one of

the cases currently before the Court concerning the applicability of Blakely v.

Washington, 124 S.Ct. 2531 (2004) to the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Pursuant to our Administrative Order Regarding Blakely Cases, issued on September

27, 2004, the motion to stay is denied. The Clerk is directed to send a copy of the

Administrative Order to the appellant and to his appointed counsel.

2

The district court denied Andersen’s request for a reduction for acceptance of

responsibility because of his pre-sentencing conduct while on a court-authorized

furlough from jail to attend his sister’s funeral. He admitted that he had used

methamphetamine while on release, that he had concealed methamphetamine in his

mouth when he returned to jail, and that he had swallowed it when confronted by jail

staff. His urine tested positive for methamphetamine.

Andersen appeals the district court’s denial of the acceptance-of-responsibility

reduction. After reviewing the record and the parties’ submissions on appeal, we

conclude that the district court did not clearly err. See, e..g, United States v. Byrd,

76 F.3d 194, 195-97 (8th Cir. 1996) (district court did not clearly err by denying

acceptance-of-responsibility reduction for defendant who admitted that, while on

release pending sentencing, his urine tested positive for marijuana); United States v.

Thomas, 72 F.3d 92, 92-93 (8th Cir. 1995) (district court did not clearly err by

denying acceptance-of-responsibility reduction for defendant who admitted that he

used marijuana while on release awaiting sentencing); United States v. Poplawski, 46

F.3d 42, 43 (8th Cir.) (district court did not clearly err by denying acceptance-ofresponsibility reduction for defendant who used amphetamine, methamphetamine,

and marijuana while on release pending sentencing), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1109

(1995). 

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.2

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Appellate Case: 04-2154 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/06/2004 Entry ID: 1841134