### F I LE D U. S . COURT OF AP PE ALS E LEVE NTH CI RCUI T N ove m be r 29, 2005 T HOM AS K. KAHN C L E RK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

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. D ocketN o. 03 -005 60 -C R -2-1 U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A , P la in tif f
- A p p e lle e , v ersu s C A R L O S V A R G A S
- G U T I E R R E Z , a .k .a . C a r lo s , D e f e n d a n t- A p p e lla n t.

________________________ A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f o rth e N o r th e rn D is tr ic t o f G e o r g ia

_________________________ ( N ove m b e r 29, 2005) B efo re T JO F L A T , B L A C K an d M A R C U S , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M: C a r l os V a r ga s -G u t i err e z appe a l s hi s 108- m onth s e nt e nc e , i m pos e d a f t e rhe p le d g u i l ty to c o n s p ir a c y to d is tr ib u te a t le a s t 5 0 0 g r a m s o f m e th a m p h e ta m in e , inIn it s b ri e f, theg ov ernment a rgue s th at th is C ourt

la c ks jurisdic tio n b a se d o n th ea pp e al- 1 waiver provision in Varg as-Gutier rez’s plea agreement. We previously reje cted this exact argument t

wi c e , when w edenie d th eg ov e rnment’ s mo tio n todis mis s a nd wh e n w edenie d it s motion for rec onsideration. 2 vi ol at i on of

21 U
. S. C. §§ 84 6 a nd 84 1( b) ( 1) ( A ) ( vi i i )
. O n app e a l , V a r ga s - G ut i e rre z
c ha l l e nge s the di s tr i c tc our t ’ s de ni a l of a m i nor - r ol e r e duc t i on. A f t e rc a r e f ul 1

r e v i e w , w e a f

f i r m. “T h e d is tr ic t c o u r t’s in te rp r e ta tio n o f th e s e n te n c in g g u id e l i n e s is s u b je c t to d e n o v o rev i ew o n ap p eal , w h ile i t s factu al fi n d i n g s m u stb e accep t ed u n l ess
c l e a r l y e rr one ous . ” U ni t e d S t a t e s v. E l l i s , 419 F
. 3d 1189 , 1192 ( 11th C i r . 2005) ( i nt e rna l quot a t i on m a r ks a n d c i t a t i on om i tt e d)
. “ [ A ] di s tr i c tc our t ’ s de t e r m i na t i on of a defe nd ant ’ s r ol e i n the offens e i s afi nd i ng of fa ct to b e re vi ew ed on l y f or cl ea r
error. ” U ni t ed S t at es v. D e V ar on , 17 5 F
. 3d 93 0, 93 7 (1 1th C i r. 19 99 ) ( en banc).

“ [T ] he ul t i m at e det erm i nat i on of rol e i n the offens e i s a l so a f un dam ent al l y f

ac tual de t e r m i na t i on e nt i t l e d t o due de f e r e nc e a nd nota l e ga l c onc l us i on s ubj e c tt o de
nov o r e v i e w . ” I d
. a t 9 3 8
. Th e d e f e n d a n t h a s th e b u r d e n o f e s t ab l i s h i n g h i s m i nor
r ol e i n the of

f e ns e by a pr e ponde r a nc e of the e vi de nc e . I d. a t939. T h e S en ten cin g G u id elin es p er m ita tw o -p o in t d ec re as e o f a d ef en d an t’ s of f e nse l ev el i f

the c our tf

i nds the de f

e nda ntw a s a “ m i norpa r t i c i pa nt ” i n the
c r im e . U .S .S .G § 3 B 1 .2 ( b ) . T o d e te r m in e w h e th e ra m itig a tin g - r o l e r e d u c tio n is
w a r r a nt e d , a d i s tr i c tc o u r t“ s h o u l d b e i n f o r me d b y tw o p r i n c i p l e s d i s c e rn e d f r om3

the G ui del i nes: [1] , the defendant ’ s r ol e i n the re lev an tcond uctfor w hi ch [he] has be e n he l d a c c ount abl e a ts e nt e nc i ng, a nd, [ 2] , [ hi s ] r ol e a s c om pa r e d t o tha tof other part i ci pant s i n [hi s] re l evantcond uct . ” D e V ar o n , 1 7 5 F
. 3d at94 0. In lo o k in g to r e le v a n t c o n d u c t, “th e d is tr ic t c o u r t m u s t a s s e s s w h e th e rth e d e f e n d a n t is
a m i nororm i ni m a l pa r t i c i pa nt i n re l a t i on t o the r e l e va ntc onduc ta ttr i but e d t o the de f e nda nt i n cal cu l at i ng [ hi s ] ba s e of f e ns e l e ve l
. ” I d. a t941. “ I n m a ki ng the ul t i m a t e de t erm i na t i on of the de f e nda nt ’ s r ol e i n the of

f e ns e , the s e nt e nc i ng j udge ha s no duty t o m a ke a ny s pe c i f i c s ubs i di ary fact u a l f

i ndi ngs . ” I d. a t939. “ S o l ong
a s the ba si s o f t h e t ri a l c our t ’ s de c i s i on i s s uppor t e d by the r e c or d a nd doe s not i nv ol ve a m i s app l i c a t i on of a rul e of l a w , w e be l i e ve tha t i t w i l l be r a r e f or an
ap p e lla te c o u rt to c o n c lu d e th a t th e s e n te n c in g c o u r t’s d e te r m in a tio n i s c l e a r ly
erroneou s. ” I d. at94 5 (em ph as i s i n o ri gi nal ). V arg as-G u t i errez arg u es th ath e i s en t i t l ed t o a m i n o r-ro l e red u ct i o n b ecau se h is o n l y r o l e in th e c o n s p ir a c y c o n s is te d o f in tr o d u c in g o n e o f

h is c o - d e f

e n d a n ts to a drug su p p l i er . A s the di stri ctcourtac kn ow l edged, ho w ever , V ar gas- G ut i erre z
an d o n e o f h is co -d ef en d an ts w h o co o p er ated p rio r to V ar g as -G u ti er re z’s
co o pe r a t i on pr ovi de d c onf l i c t i ng s t or i e s c onc e rni ng c o- de f e nda ntG e r a r do T orr esL ugo’ s pa r t i c i pa t i on i n the c ons pi r a c y . T he e a r l i e rc oope r a t i ng c o- de f e nda nt4

im m e d i at el y u p o n arresti d en t i fi ed T o rres-L u g o as th e su p p l i er, w h i l e V arg asG u tie rr e z w a ite d o v e rf

o u rm o n th s to r e v e a l th e e x is te n c e o f a d if f e r e n t p e r s o n . V a r g a s - G u t i e rr e z a r g u e s th e d i s tr i c t c o u r t a c c o r d e d t o o mu c h w e i g h t t o t he t i m i ng of hi s c oope r a t i on w i th the gove rnm e nt ’ s i nve s t i ga t i on. W e di s a gr e e . F r om
o u r r e v i e w o f

th e s e n te n c in g tr a n s c r ip t, it is c le a rth a t V a r g a s - G u tie rr e z s im p ly d id
n o t m e e t h is b u r d e n to e s t a b lis h b y a p r e p o n d e r a n c e o f th e e v id e n c e h is m in o rr o le i n the of f e ns e . T he di s tr i c t c our t hi ghl i ght e d the c onf l i c t i ng ve r s i ons of e ve n t s a nd
c o n c l u d e d th a t“ s o m e th i n g d o e s n ’ tf i twe l l ” wi th Var g a s - Gu t i e rr e z ’ s v e r s i o n . On th is r e c o r d , w e c a n n o t s a y th e d is tr ic t c o u r t c le a r l y e r r e d b y d e n y in g a m in o r - r o le
r e d u c tio n . AF F I RME D.