[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________

No. 14-13754

________________________

D.C. Docket No. 8:14-cr-00055-SDM-EAJ-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff - Appellee,

versus

CARLINGTON CRUICKSHANK, 

 Defendant - Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Florida

________________________

(September 20, 2016)

Before MARCUS and WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS,

* District 

Judge.

MARCUS, Circuit Judge: 

 * Honorable Brian J. Davis, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, sitting 

by designation.

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On February 11, 2014, the U.S. Coast Guard recovered 171 kilograms of 

cocaine from a vessel known as the “Venus” in international waters in the 

Caribbean Sea. Carlington Cruickshank, one of two men aboard the vessel, was 

later convicted and sentenced to 324 months’ imprisonment for one count of 

conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine 

while aboard a vessel, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 960(b)(1)(B)(ii) and

46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a), 70506(a) and (b), and one count of aiding and abetting 

possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while aboard 

a vessel, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2, 21 U.S.C. § 960(b)(1)(B)(ii), and 46 U.S.C. 

§§ 70503(a), 70506(a). On appeal, Cruickshank argues that: (1) jurisdiction did 

not exist to prosecute him under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act 

(“MDLEA”) and, moreover, the MDLEA is unconstitutional; (2) the district court 

erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal based on insufficient 

evidence of mens rea; (3) the district court erred by establishing jurisdiction under 

the MDLEA by relying on a United States Department of State certification, and 

by removing from the jury the factual question concerning jurisdiction; and (4) the 

district court clearly erred in denying him a minor-role reduction under U.S.S.G. 

§ 3B1.2(b). After careful review of the parties’ briefs and the record, and having 

had the benefit of oral argument, we affirm in part, and vacate and remand in part.

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I.

First, we reject Cruickshank’s claims that jurisdiction did not exist to 

prosecute him under the MDLEA and that the MDLEA is unconstitutional. We 

review a district court’s interpretation and application of a statute concerning its 

subject-matter jurisdiction de novo, but we review factual findings with respect to 

jurisdiction for clear error. United Sates v. Campbell, 743 F.3d 802, 805 (11th 

Cir.), cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 704 (2014). We review the legal question of whether 

a statute is constitutional and constitutional objections de novo. Id. Under our 

prior precedent rule, we are bound to follow a prior binding precedent unless and 

until it is overruled by us sitting en banc or by the Supreme Court. United States v. 

Vega-Castillo, 540 F.3d 1235, 1236 (11th Cir. 2008).

The MDLEA prohibits knowingly or intentionally possessing a controlled 

substance, with the intent to distribute, onboard any vessel subject to the 

jurisdiction of the United States. 46 U.S.C. § 70503(a)(1) (“While on board a 

covered vessel, an individual may not knowingly or intentionally . . . possess with 

intent to manufacture or distribute, a controlled substance.”). It was enacted under 

Congress’s authority provided by the Felonies Clause, U.S. Const. Art. I, § 8, cl. 

10, to define and punish felonies committed on the high seas. Campbell, 743 F.3d 

at 805. Pursuant to the MDLEA, “a vessel without nationality” is “subject to the 

jurisdiction of the United States” and it defines a stateless vessel as including “a 

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vessel aboard which the master or individual in charge makes a claim of registry 

that is denied by the nation whose registry is claimed.” 46 U.S.C. 

§ 70502(c)(1)(A), (d)(1)(A). 

In Campbell, the United States Coast Guard had intercepted the defendant 

while aboard a vessel in the international waters off the eastern coast of Jamaica. 

743 F.3d at 804. The vessel lacked all indicia of nationality: it displayed no flag, 

port, or registration number. Id. Although one of the individuals aboard the vessel 

claimed it was registered in Haiti, the government of Haiti told the Coast Guard 

that it could neither confirm nor deny the registry. Id. Campbell, the defendant, 

argued that Congress had exceeded its authority under the Felonies Clause of the 

Constitution when it enacted the MDLEA. We disagreed, recognizing that “we 

have always upheld extraterritorial convictions under our drug trafficking laws as 

an exercise of power under the Felonies Clause.” Id. at 809-10. As we explained, 

a criminal act does not need a nexus to the United States in order to be 

criminalized under the MDLEA “because universal and protective principles 

support its extraterritorial reach.” Id. at 810. In other words, because the Felonies 

Clause empowers Congress to punish crimes committed on the high seas, and 

because “the trafficking of narcotics is condemned universally by law-abiding 

nations,” we rejected the argument “that it is fundamentally unfair for Congress to 

provide for the punishment of persons apprehended with narcotics on the high 

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seas.” Id. (quotations omitted). This is especially true, we explained, when vessels 

on the high seas “are engaged in conduct that has a potentially adverse effect and is 

generally recognized as a crime by nations that have reasonably developed legal 

systems.” Id. (quotations omitted).

We also explained in Campbell that the “Due Process Clause of the Fifth 

Amendment does not prohibit the trial and conviction of an alien captured on the 

high seas while drug trafficking.” Id. at 812 (citing United States v. Rendon, 

354 F.3d 1320, 1326 (11th Cir. 2003)). In our view, the MDLEA “provides clear 

notice that all nations prohibit and condemn drug trafficking aboard stateless 

vessels on the high seas.” Id. 

In this case, all of Cruickshank’s arguments concerning the MDLEA are 

foreclosed by our prior precedent. In Campbell, we reaffirmed that Congress did 

not exceed its authority by enacting the MDLEA; we determined that no 

jurisdictional nexus was required under the MDLEA; and we concluded that 

convictions under the MDLEA do not violate the Due Process Clause of the 

Constitution. See id. at 809-10, 812. Because we are bound by our prior precedent

concerning all of Cruickshank’s challenges to the MDLEA, his arguments 

necessarily fail.

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II.

We are also unpersuaded by Cruickshank’s claim that the district court erred 

in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal based on insufficient evidence of 

mens rea. We review de novo whether sufficient evidence supports a conviction, 

drawing all reasonable factual inferences from the evidence in favor of the verdict. 

United States v. Beckles, 565 F.3d 832, 840 (11th Cir. 2009). Evidence is 

sufficient if a reasonable trier of fact could have found that it established guilt 

beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. In rebutting the government’s evidence, a 

defendant must do more than put forth a reasonable hypothesis of innocence, 

because the issue is whether a reasonable jury could have convicted, not whether a 

conviction was the only reasonable result. Id. at 840-41.

To establish a conspiracy, the government must prove beyond a reasonable 

doubt that two or more persons entered into an unlawful agreement to commit an 

offense, that the defendant knew of the agreement, and that he voluntarily became 

a part of the conspiracy. United States v. Tinoco, 304 F.3d 1088, 1122 (11th Cir. 

2002); United States v. Alvarez, 837 F.2d 1024, 1027 (11th Cir. 1988). The 

defendant’s presence on a vessel, though not determinative, is a material factor 

supporting his participation in a conspiracy relating to that vessel. Tinoco, 304 

F.3d at 1122-23. “A defendant’s presence becomes more significant when the 

value of the contraband is high, as it is highly improbable that drug smugglers 

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would allow an outsider on board a vessel filled with millions of dollars worth of 

contraband.” Id. at 1123 (quotation omitted). When we review a conspiracy or a 

possession-with-intent-to-distribute conviction involving a vessel laden with 

narcotics, we consider, among other things: (1) the probable length of the voyage; 

(2) the size of the contraband shipment; (3) the necessarily close relationship 

between captain and crew; (4) whether the contraband was in plain view, could be 

smelled, or was in a place where a person on a vessel would ordinarily discover it; 

and, (5) other factors, including diversionary maneuvers designed to evade 

detection and apprehension, attempts to flee, inculpatory and false exculpatory 

statements made after apprehension, witnessed participation as a crewman, and the 

absence of supplies or equipment necessary to the vessel’s intended use. Id.; 

United States v. Cruz-Valdez, 773 F.2d 1541, 1546-47 (11th Cir. 1985).

“In order to convict a defendant for possession with intent to distribute a 

controlled substance, the government must prove knowing possession and an intent 

to distribute.” United States v. Camacho, 233 F.3d 1308, 1317 (11th Cir. 2000). 

The law recognizes that a defendant may constructively possess a controlled 

substance if he exercises some measure of control over the contraband, either 

exclusively or in association with others. Tinoco, 304 F.3d at 1123. The 

defendant’s intent to distribute may be inferred from a variety of factors, including 

whether the government seized a large quantity of controlled substances. Id. In 

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order to prove that the defendant aided and abetted an offense, the government 

must establish that: (1) someone else committed the substantive offense; (2) the 

defendant committed an act that contributed to and furthered the offense; and 

(3) the defendant intended to aid in the commission of the offense. Camacho, 

233 F.3d at 1317. 

After thoroughly reviewing this record, we are satisfied that the evidence 

was sufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt Cruickshank’s criminally 

culpable mens rea or state of mind to convict him on both charges -- conspiracy to 

possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while aboard a 

vessel, and aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute five kilograms 

or more of cocaine while aboard a vessel. Among other things, Cruickshank’s codefendant, Carlos Acosta, testified that Cruickshank was one of two individuals 

who had been hired to transport drugs on a vessel from Colombia to Jamaica. 

Acosta said that, when he met Cruickshank and told him drugs were on the boat, 

Cruickshank stated that he was comfortable with that. The other individual who 

was supposed to show up to assist with the operation did not, leaving only Acosta 

and Cruickshank to transport the drugs. Acosta admitted that Cruickshank arrived 

after the cocaine had been loaded onto the Venus, so Cruickshank had nothing to 

do with loading the cocaine onto the vessel, reconstructing the Venus to carry the 

drugs, fueling, or attending any of the meetings leading up to the trip. Acosta said, 

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however, that Cruickshank programmed the vessel’s GPS devices with Acosta’s

help. In so doing, they configured the GPS devices to transport the ship and the 

contraband across the Caribbean Sea from Colombia to Jamaica, with waypoints 

near Jamaica. According to Acosta, once they reached the waypoint closest to 

Jamaica, someone was going to meet them and take the drugs. 

As for their capture, Acosta said that he and Cruickshank had become 

concerned during the trip when they realized a Coast Guard helicopter was flying 

above the Venus. They eventually stopped the vessel when the Coast Guard fired 

warning shots. Before a Coast Guard officer from a nearby vessel boarded the

Venus, they threw grocery items, garbage, and clothes overboard in an attempt to 

get rid of evidence that they were coming from Colombia, and one of the men took 

off articles of clothing and washed. Cruickshank suggested that they tell the Coast 

Guard that he and Acosta were searching for another vessel, but they did not 

decide who would admit to being in charge. 

Ian Groom, a lieutenant with the U.S. Coast Guard, and Andre Trinidad, a 

machinery technician specializing in counter-drug enforcement with the Coast 

Guard, also testified. Lieutenant Groom explained that in the pre-daylight hours of 

February 11, 2014, he had been co-piloting a Coast Guard helicopter when he 

acquired visibility of a vessel operating without navigational lights. Groom

noticed the vessel stopping and starting, and, after spotting the helicopter, the 

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vessel increased its rate of speed and the two people onboard began throwing 

overboard unidentified objects, which appeared to be clothing, a bucket, and a jug 

of water. Officer Trinidad, who was aboard a vessel that Lieutenant Groom had 

directed to the Venus, testified that he then boarded the Venus to question the 

occupants. Trinidad relayed that, in response to his questions, Cruickshank said 

that he was in charge and that the vessel was Jamaican. Trinidad asked for 

documentation to support that the boat was Jamaican, but there was no supporting 

documentation. Cruickshank also told Trinidad that they had left Jamaica to assist 

a friend who had run out of gas, and were planning to return to Jamaica. 

Cruickshank said that they had not found the friend, and he did not identify the 

friend or the name of his vessel. Trinidad contacted his supervisor, and Trinidad 

was eventually informed that Jamaica was not accepting the claim of nationality. 

At that point, Trinidad’s supervisors made a request to assimilate the vessel 

without nationality, which meant U.S. law would be imposed and the vessel would 

be subject to all U.S. laws.

Trinidad testified that the captured vessel was the Venus, and that 

Cruickshank and Acosta were on board. Trinidad also said that a scan performed 

on the Venus tested positive for cocaine, and that he found hidden kilogram-size

packages of cocaine after drilling a hole in a bench on the vessel. Ultimately, 

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authorities found a handheld GPS device, a handheld two-way radio, and 

approximately 171 kilograms of cocaine on the Venus. 

As the evidence at trial showed, while Cruickshank was on the Venus, it was 

operated without lights, it attempted evasive maneuvers when the Coast Guard 

helicopter was overhead, and the occupants threw items overboard to conceal their 

starting point. Evidence also revealed that Cruickshank had said he was 

comfortable with the drugs being on the boat, he programmed the vessel’s GPS 

devices, he came up with a cover story for the authorities, and he ultimately told 

the Coast Guard that he was in charge and gave the false statement about why they 

were at sea. There was more than sufficient evidence to establish Cruickshank’s 

guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on both charges. 

III.

We are also unpersuaded by Cruickshank’s claims that the district court 

erred by establishing jurisdiction under the MDLEA in two respects: (1) by relying 

on a United States Department of State certification, in violation of the 

Confrontation Clause of the Constitution; and (2) by removing from the jury the 

question of fact concerning jurisdiction, in violation of Alleyne v. United States, 

570 U.S. ___, 133 S. Ct. 2151 (2013). Normally, we review whether hearsay 

statements are testimonial de novo. United States v. Caraballo, 595 F.3d 1214, 

1226 (11th Cir. 2010). But if a defendant (like Cruickshank) did not raise an 

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objection based on his confrontation right at trial, we review a confrontation claim 

for plain error. United States v. Charles, 722 F.3d 1319, 1322 (11th Cir. 2013). To 

show plain error, the defendant must establish (1) an error, (2) that is plain or 

obvious, and (3) that affected his substantial rights. United States v. Turner, 

474 F.3d 1265, 1276 (11th Cir. 2007). And, if a defendant satisfies these three 

conditions, we may exercise our discretion to recognize the error only if it 

“seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial 

proceedings.” Id. An error is plain when it contradicts precedent from the 

Supreme Court or our Court directly resolving the issue. See United States v. 

Lejarde-Rada, 319 F.3d 1288, 1291 (11th Cir. 2003). “Errors [] affect a substantial 

right of a party if they have a ‘substantial influence’ on the outcome of a case or 

leave ‘grave doubt’ as to whether they affected the outcome of a case.” Turner, 

474 F.3d at 1276 (quotation omitted). But “where the effect of an error on the 

result in the district court is uncertain or indeterminate,” the defendant has not met 

his burden of demonstrating prejudice for purposes of plain error review. United 

States v. Rodriguez, 398 F.3d 1291, 1301 (11th Cir. 2005). And, finally, as we 

said earlier, we review constitutional issues de novo. Campbell, 743 F.3d at 805. 

The Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause prevents the admission of a 

witness’s testimonial statement when the witness does not appear at trial, unless he 

is unavailable to testify and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine 

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him. Id. at 806. However, a United States State Department certification of 

jurisdiction under the MDLEA does not implicate the Confrontation Clause 

because it does not affect the guilt or innocence of a defendant. See id. at 806-09.

In Alleyne, the Supreme Court revisited two of its prior cases: (1) Apprendi 

v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), which requires that, other than the fact of a 

prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the 

prescribed statutory maximum be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a 

reasonable doubt; and (2) Harris v. United States, 536 U.S. 545, 567-68 (2002), 

which held that judicial factfinding that increased the applicable statutory 

mandatory-minimum sentence was permissible under the Sixth Amendment. 

Alleyne, 133 S. Ct. at 2157-58. In Alleyne, the Supreme Court expressly 

overturned Harris because it was inconsistent with its decision in Apprendi, and 

held that any facts that increase the applicable statutory mandatory-minimum 

sentence for a crime must be submitted to a jury and found beyond a reasonable 

doubt. Id. at 2155, 2163.

The MDLEA expressly provides that the United States’s jurisdiction over a 

vessel is not an element of the offense, and that jurisdiction is a preliminary 

question of law to be resolved by the district court. 46 U.S.C. § 70504(a)

(“Jurisdiction of the United States with respect to a vessel subject to this chapter is 

not an element of an offense. Jurisdictional issues arising under this chapter are 

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preliminary questions of law to be determined solely by the trial judge.”). In 

Tinoco, we asked whether the MDLEA jurisdictional requirement raised “factual 

questions that traditionally would have been treated as elements of an offense 

under the common law, thereby triggering the constitutional safeguards provided 

by the Due Process Clause and the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial.” 304 

F.3d at 1107-08. Analyzing the common law, we held that the MDLEA’s 

jurisdictional requirement does not raise a factual issue that, under the common 

law, would have been considered an element of the offense. Id. at 1108. This is 

because the jurisdictional requirement is intended to act as a diplomatic courtesy, 

and does not bear on the individual defendant’s guilt. Id. at 1108-09. Therefore, 

because the jurisdictional requirement under the MDLEA is not an element of the 

offense, neither the Due Process Clause nor the Sixth Amendment to the 

Constitution are implicated when the jurisdictional requirement under the MDLEA 

is not proven to the satisfaction of a jury. Id. at 1111-12. 

As an initial matter, we review Cruickshank’s Confrontation Clause 

argument for plain error because he failed to raise it at any time before the district 

court, although we review his Alleyne argument de novo, since he raised that one 

in the district court. But under any standard of review, plain or otherwise, there 

was no Confrontation Clause violation. A United States Department of State 

certification of jurisdiction under the MDLEA does not implicate the 

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Confrontation Clause because it does not affect the guilt or innocence of a 

defendant. Campbell, 743 F.3d at 809. Nor did the district court err by rejecting 

Cruickshank’s Alleyne argument, since we’ve squarely held the jurisdictional 

requirement is not an element of the offense, need not be determined by a jury, and 

does not violate the Due Process Clause or the Sixth Amendment. 46 U.S.C. 

§ 70504(a); Tinoco, 304 F.3d at 1108, 1111-12. These claims are without merit.

IV.

As for Cruickshank’s last claim, however -- that the district court erred in 

denying him a minor-role reduction under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b) -- we are compelled 

to vacate and remand for resentencing. We review a district court’s denial of a role 

reduction for clear error. United States v. Bernal-Benitez, 594 F.3d 1303, 1320 

(11th Cir. 2010). Clear error review is deferential, and “we will not disturb a 

district court’s findings unless we are left with a definite and firm conviction that a 

mistake has been committed.” United States v. Ghertler, 605 F.3d 1256, 1267 

(11th Cir. 2010) (quotations omitted). The district court’s “choice between two 

permissible views of the evidence” as to the defendant’s role in the offense will 

rarely constitute clear error “[s]o long as the basis of the trial court’s decision is 

supported by the record and does not involve a misapplication of a rule of law.” 

United States v. De Varon, 175 F.3d 930, 945 (11th Cir. 1999) (en banc) (emphasis 

and quotation omitted). The defendant bears the burden of establishing his minor 

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role in the offense by a preponderance of the evidence. Bernal-Benitez, 594 F.3d 

at 1320. 

The Sentencing Guidelines provide for a two-level decrease to a base 

offense level if a defendant was a minor participant in the criminal activity. 

U.S.S.G § 3B1.2(b). A minor participant is one “who is less culpable than most 

other participants in the criminal activity, but whose role could not be described as 

minimal.” Id., cmt. n.5. Our leading case concerning the minor-role reduction --

De Varon -- has long instructed sentencing courts analyzing a claim for a minorrole reduction to consider “first, the defendant’s role in the relevant conduct for 

which [he] has been held accountable at sentencing, and, second, [his] role as 

compared to that of other participants in [his] relevant conduct.” 175 F.3d at 940. 

As the en banc Court explained in De Varon, “[t]hese principles advance both the 

directives of the Guidelines and our case precedent by recognizing the factintensive nature of this inquiry and by maximizing the discretion of the trial court 

in determining the defendant’s role in the offense.” Id. at 934. 

In De Varon, the defendant was a drug courier -- she had ingested and 

smuggled 70 heroin-filled pellets into the United States from Colombia. Id. We 

recognized that “when a drug courier’s relevant conduct is limited to her own act 

of importation, a district court may legitimately conclude that the courier played an 

important or essential role in the importation of those drugs.” Id. at 942-43. 

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However, we declined to “create a presumption that drug couriers are never minor 

or minimal participants, any more than that they are always minor or minimal”;

rather, we held that “the district court must assess all of the facts probative of the 

defendant’s role in her relevant conduct in evaluating the defendant’s role in the 

offense.” Id. at 943. We offered examples of relevant factors for the court to 

consider, including the “amount of drugs, fair market value of drugs, amount of 

money to be paid to the courier, equity interest in the drugs, role in planning the 

criminal scheme, and role in the distribution.” Id. at 945. We stressed that this is 

“not an exhaustive list,” nor is “any one factor . . . more important than another,” 

especially since the determination is highly fact-intensive and “falls within the 

sound discretion of the trial court.” Id. The en banc Court in De Varon ultimately 

concluded that it was well within the sentencing court’s discretion to deny the 

minor-role adjustment to the defendant, after it determined that De Varon was 

central to the importation scheme, that she had carried a substantial amount of 

high-purity heroin on her person, that it was unclear from the record that she was 

less culpable than the other described participant in the scheme, and that De Varon 

had furnished $1,000 of her own money to finance the smuggling enterprise. 

Id. at 945-46.

The Sentencing Commission, through Amendment 635 to the Sentencing 

Guidelines, adopted our approach in De Varon that “§ 3B1.2 does not 

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automatically preclude a defendant from being considered for a mitigating role 

adjustment in a case in which the defendant is held accountable under § 1B1.3 

solely for the amount of drugs the defendant personally handled.” See U.S.S.G.

App. C, Amend. 635, Reason for Amendment. As the Commission explained, 

“[i]n considering a § 3B1.2 adjustment, a court must measure the defendant’s role 

against the relevant conduct for which the defendant is held accountable at 

sentencing, whether or not other defendants are charged.” Id.

More recent amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines -- that went into 

effect after the sentencing hearing in this case -- further clarify the factors for a 

court to consider for a minor-role adjustment, and still continue to embrace the 

approach we took in De Varon. In November 2015, the Commission added the 

following language to Application Note 3(C) for § 3B1.2:

In determining whether [a defendant warrants a minimal or minor 

participant] or an intermediate adjustment, the court should consider 

the following non-exhaustive list of factors:

(i) the degree to which the defendant understood the scope and 

structure of the criminal activity;

(ii) the degree to which the defendant participated in planning or 

organizing the criminal activity;

(iii) the degree to which the defendant exercised decisionmaking authority or influenced the exercise of decisionmaking authority;

(iv) the nature and extent of the defendant’s participation in the 

commission of the criminal activity, including the acts the 

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defendant performed and the responsibility and discretion 

the defendant had in performing those acts;

(v) the degree to which the defendant stood to benefit from the 

criminal activity.

For example, a defendant who does not have a proprietary interest in 

the criminal activity and who is simply being paid to perform certain 

tasks should be considered for an adjustment under this guideline.

The fact that a defendant performs an essential or indispensable role 

in the criminal activity is not determinative. Such a defendant may 

receive an adjustment under this guideline if he or she is substantially 

less culpable than the average participant in the criminal activity.

U.S.S.G. Supp. App. C, Amend. 794. Not surprisingly, this non-exhaustive list of 

factors includes many of the same factors we delineated in De Varon, including the 

defendant’s role in planning and carrying out the scheme, as well as the amount the 

defendant stood to be paid. De Varon, 175 F.3d at 945. 

Although this Court applies the version of the Guidelines in effect on the 

date of sentencing, when reviewing the district court’s application of the 

Guidelines, we consider clarifying amendments retroactively on appeal regardless 

of the date of sentencing. United States v. Jerchower, 631 F.3d 1181, 1184 

(11th Cir. 2011). As we’ve explained, an amendment to the commentary, and not 

the text, of the Guidelines “suggest[s] that it clarifies” the guideline “rather than 

substantively alters it.” Id. at 1187. Thus, the government in this case argues 

correctly that Amendment 794 merely clarified the factors to consider for a minorrole adjustment, and did not substantively change § 31B.2. Accord United States 

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v. Quintero-Leyva, 823 F.3d 519, 523 (9th Cir. 2016) (holding Amendment 794 

was intended as a clarifying amendment and it therefore applies retroactively on 

direct appeal). The Sentencing Commission, moreover, did not describe

Amendment 794 as making a substantive change, but stated that it provides

“additional guidance to sentencing courts.” See U.S.S.G. Supp. App. C, Amend. 

794, Reason for Amendment. In other words, Amendment 794 merely explains the 

meaning of the terms in the original guideline. See Jerchower, 631 F.3d at 1184.

Our task, therefore, is to review the district court’s ruling in light of the 

Guidelines, our case law, and clarifying Amendment 794. For starters, we note 

that the evidence at trial painted a fairly full picture of the role that Cruickshank 

took in the offense -- among other things, he was involved in programming the 

vessel’s route, in evading authorities, and in obstructing the Coast Guard’s inquiry. 

Moreover, the record makes clear that the district court discussed many of the 

factors our Court and the Sentencing Commission have laid out as important to the 

minor-role determination. These factors included the quantity of drugs 

Cruickshank transported, Cruickshank’s expectation of “premium pay,” 

Cruickshank’s role as one of only two people on board to take the vessel from 

Colombia to Jamaica, and the dangerousness of the offense of “transport[ing] a 

large cargo of contraband in a transoceanic voyage from one continent to another” 

-- a “voyage [that] necessitate[d] the intervention of the United States military to 

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defeat it,” and that intentionally or unintentionally endangered many lives. DE101 

at 17-19. 

However, one portion of the district court’s decision gives us pause -- its 

suggestion that the quantity of cocaine being transported on the Venus was so large 

that no participant in the scheme could ever have been eligible for a minor-role 

reduction. At one point the court said that the quantity of drugs was “so large that 

any participant in [the case] can’t be said to be engaged in minor activity.” DE101 

at 14. Later, it reiterated that “171 kilograms of high-quality cocaine, almost pure 

cocaine in this circumstance, that will be, as the druggies say, stepped on two or 

three or four times is not even available for a minor role under the language of 

Rodriguez De Varon.” DE101 at 18 (emphasis added). But De Varon stressed the 

fact-intensive nature of the inquiry, and the sentencing court’s role in assessing the 

totality of the circumstances, where no one factor is “more important than 

another.” 175 F.3d at 945; id. at 943 (“[T]he district court must assess all of the 

facts probative of the defendant’s role in her relevant conduct in evaluating the 

defendant’s role in the offense.”) (emphasis added).

1 Moreover, Amendment 794 

 1 While the Court indicated in De Varon that we would not “foreclose the possibility” in a 

drug courier case “that amount of drugs may be dispositive -- in and of itself -- in the extreme 

case,” we allowed for that possibility because “the amount of drugs in a courier’s possession --

whether very large or very small -- may be the best indication of the magnitude of the courier’s 

participation in the criminal enterprise.” 175 F.3d at 943. De Varon involved a defendant who 

had swallowed the contraband to transport it, so the amount in her possession was actually on her 

person and perhaps was more likely to be indicative of her relative role in the offense. But this is 

not that kind of case. Here, there is nothing in the record to suggest that the amount of drugs was 

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clarified that a defendant could be considered for a minor-role adjustment in many 

circumstances, none of which turn on drug quantity. See, e.g., Amendment 794 (A

defendant who does not have a proprietary interest in the criminal activity and who 

is simply being paid to perform certain tasks “should be considered for an 

adjustment under this guideline.”) (emphasis added); id. (A defendant who 

performed an essential or indispensable role in the criminal activity “may receive

an adjustment under this guideline if he or she is substantially less culpable than 

the average participant in the criminal activity.”) (emphasis added). 

Indeed, although nothing in De Varon or Amendment 794 precludes a 

district court from considering the drug quantity with which the defendant was 

involved as an indicator of his role, we think it was legal error for the district court 

to say that this is the only factor to be considered in a case like this one. While it is 

possible that the district court did not rely solely on drug quantity in making its 

minor-role determination, the consequences for Cruickshank’s advisory sentencing 

range could be significant -- a potential six-level reduction to his offense level, 

see U.S.S.G. §§ 2D1.1(a)(5), 3B1.2(b). Thus, we think the wisest course of action 

is to vacate the district court’s decision and remand for resentencing. On remand, 

the district court should perform an inquiry based on the totality of circumstances, 

 

indicative of the magnitude of Cruickshank’s participation in the crime -- to the contrary, he did 

not load the drugs on the vessel, reconstruct the vessel, fuel the vessel, attend the planning 

meetings for the trip, or otherwise appear to have any role concerning the quantity of drugs 

aboard.

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taking into account the variety of factors laid out in De Varon and 

Amendment 794.

AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART.

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