Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-09-03580/USCOURTS-ca8-09-03580-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Carlos Gutierrez-Hernandez
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Harold Vietor, United States District Judge for the Southern

District of Iowa.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 09-3580

___________

*

United States of America, *

*

 Plaintiff – Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Southern District of Iowa.

Carlos Gutierrez-Hernandez, also *

known as Carlos Hernandez, also * [UNPUBLISHED]

known as Rafael Saucedo, *

*

Defendant – Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: May 10, 2010

Filed: May 24, 2010

___________

Before RILEY, Chief Judge, JOHN R. GIBSON and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Carlos Gutierrez-Hernandez pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute

marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B)(vii) and 846, and one

count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § §

841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C). The district court1

 sentenced him to the statutory

Appellate Case: 09-3580 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/24/2010 Entry ID: 3667490
-2-

minimum, sixty months imprisonment on each count to be served concurrently, and

four years of supervised release. Gutierrez-Hernandez appeals the district court's

conclusion that he was not entitled to safety valve relief pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §

3553(f)(5) and U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2. We affirm.

Gutierrez-Hernandez had the burden of establishing his eligibility for a safety

valve sentencing reduction. United States v. Soto, 448 F.3d 993, 995 (8th Cir. 2006).

The safety valve provision enables a district court to impose a sentence within the

guideline range without regard to the statutory minimum if, among other conditions,

"no later than the time of the sentencing hearing, the defendant has truthfully provided

to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning the

offense[.]" U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2(a)(5). 

We review the district court's findings "as to the completeness and truthfulness

of a defendant's safety-valve proffer" for clear error. United States v. Bolanos, 409

F.3d 1045, 1047 (8th Cir. 2005). Record evidence showed that Gutierrez-Hernandez

did not disclose "all information and evidence" in his possession. To the contrary, he

made inconsistent and incomplete statements to investigating officers. At his

sentencing hearing, defense counsel acknowledged that Gutierrez-Hernandez's

admissions during his interview on the day of his arrest were not "complete or

comprehensive in any way," and that he did not "fully [tell] the truth" in his

subsequent proffer interview. Gutierrez-Hernandez points to his plea hearing, where

he answered "yeah" to the magistrate judge's questions confirming his commission of

certain criminal acts that provided a factual basis for his plea. Even taking into

account these statements, however, record evidence indicated that GutierrezHernandez knew more about at least two coconspirators than he admitted. "[L]imited

admissions" do not qualify Gutierrez-Hernandez for safety valve relief. United States

v. Alvarado-Rivera, 412 F.3d 942, 948 (8th Cir. 2005) (en banc).

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

 ____________________________

Appellate Case: 09-3580 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/24/2010 Entry ID: 3667490