Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-06-01702/USCOURTS-ca8-06-01702-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Bob Travis McKisick
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Robert T. Dawson, United States District Judge for the Western

District of Arkansas.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 06-1702

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Western District of Arkansas.

Bob Travis McKisick, *

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: February 16, 2007

Filed: February 22, 2007 

___________

Before RILEY, MAGILL, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Bob McKisick pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams

or more of cocaine base. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(iii). The district court1

sentenced him to the statutory minimum of 120 months in prison. On appeal,

McKisick argues that the district court erred in denying him safety-valve relief from

the statutory minimum sentence.

 

Appellate Case: 06-1702 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/22/2007 Entry ID: 3280862
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As one of the criteria for safety-valve relief, the defendant must have “truthfully

provided to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has

concerning the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct or of

a common scheme or plan.” U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2(a)(5). We conclude that the district

court did not clearly err in finding McKisick failed to meet this requirement. See

United States v. Alarcon-Garcia, 327 F.3d 719, 721 (8th Cir. 2003) (standard of

review). While such a finding must rest on more than the government’s mere opinion

that a defendant has been untruthful, see United States v. Kang, 143 F.3d 379, 382-83

(8th Cir. 1998), the government offered supporting testimony at sentencing, and

McKisick did not carry his burden of showing affirmatively that the information he

gave the government was truthful and complete, see United States v. Alvarado-Rivera,

412 F.3d 942, 947 (8th Cir. 2005) (en banc), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 1096 (2006).

Given McKisick’s ineligibility for safety-valve relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), and

the absence of a government substantial-assistance motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e),

the district court had no authority to sentence McKisick below the statutory mandatory

minimum. See United States v. Chacon, 330 F.3d 1065, 1066 (8th Cir. 2003).

Accordingly, we affirm.

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Appellate Case: 06-1702 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/22/2007 Entry ID: 3280862