FI LED U. S . COURT OF AP PE ALS E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT Febr uar y 1, 2006 T HOM AS K. KAHN CL 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

________________________ N o. 05- 10882 N on -A rgum entC al endar

________________________ D . C. D o c k e tN o . 0 4 - 0 0 4 3 7 - CR- T- 2 6 TBM 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 M I G U E L V I V A S - R E N G E F O , 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 orthe M i ddl e D i s tr i c tof F l or i da

_________________________ ( F e b r u ar y 1, 2006) B efo re B L A C K , B A R K E T T 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: M i gue l V i va s - R e nge f

o appe a l s hi s 135- m onth s e nt e nc e , i m pos e d aft er he p le d g u ilty to p o s s e s s io n o f c o c a in e w ith in te n t to d is tr ib u te , a n d c o n s p ir a c y to2

di s tr i but e 5 ki l ogr a m s orm or e of c oc a i ne w hi l e a boa r d a ve s s el su bj ec tt o the j uri sdi ct i on of the U ni t ed S t at es , i n v i ol at i on o f 4 6 U .S . C . § 1 90 3(a) , (g), and (j ), and 2 1 U . S . C . § 9 60 (b)( 1 )( B )( ii ). O n app ea l , V i vas- R engefo, w ho w as char ged w i th thr ee codefendant s, P aul i no Ji m i nez- B i oj o, C hri st i an B al er es o, and A l exandre A n c h ic o , a r g u e s th e d is tr ic t c o u r t e rr e d b y r e f u s in g to g r a n t h im a tw o - le v e l, m in o r - r o le r e d u c tio n , p u r s u a n t to U .S .S .G . § 3 B 1 . 2 . H e a s s e r ts h is p a r tic ip a tio n in the of f e ns e w a s m i norw he n c om pa r e d t o the ow ne r s of the c oc a i ne be caus e he o n l y t ra ns por t e d i ta nd di d notha ve a n e qui ty i nt e r e s t . H e a l s o ur ge s tha tb ecau se h e w a s le s s c u l p a b l e th a n th e s c h e m e ’s o r g a n iz e r s a n d r e c ru ite r s , h e w a s e n title d to the re du ct i on and t he di strictcourterroneou sl y bas ed hi s s ent ence on ho w the court p r e v io u s ly h a d h a n d le d s im ila rc a s e s . W e r e v ie w a d is tr ic t c o u r t ’ s f a c tu a l f in d in g s r e g a r d in g a d e f e n d a n t’s r o le in the offens e f

or cl ea r er ro r. U ni t ed S t at es v. D e V ar on , 17 5 F . 3d 93 0, 93 7 (11 th C i r. 1999) ( e n ba nc ) . “ S o l ong a s the b asi s o f the tr i a l c our t ’ s de c i s i on i s s uppor t e d by th e r e c o r d a n d d o e s n o t in v o lv e a m is ap p lic a tio n o f a ru le o f la w , w e b e lie v e th a t it w il l b e r a r e fo r a n ap p ellate co u rt to co n clu d e th at th e s en ten cin g co u rt’s d e te r m in a tio n is c le a r ly e rr o n e o u s .” D e V a r o n , 1 7 5 F .3 d a t 9 4 5 . T h e G u i d el i n es p ro v i d e fo r a tw o -l ev el d ecrease w h ere th e d efen d an tw as a m i norpa r t i c i pa nti n a ny c r i m i na l a c t i vi ty . S e e U . S . S . G . § 3B 1. 2( b) . A m i nor3

part i ci panti s def

i ned as “ any par t i ci pantw ho i s l es s c ul pabl e than m ostother pa r t i c i pa nt s , butw h o se r ol e c oul d notbe de s c r i be d a s m i ni m a l . ” U . S . S . G . § 3B 1. 2, co m m en t . ( n. 3) . T o de t e r m i ne w he the rthe a dj us tm e ntappl i e s , a di s tr i c tc our tf i rst s h o u ld m e a s u r e th e d e f

e n d a n t’s r o le a g a in s t th e c o n d u c t f o rw h ic h h e h a s b e e n h e ld a c c o u n tab le . S e e D e V a r o n , 1 7 5 F .3 d a t 9 3 4 . W i t h r e g a r d to d ru g c o u r ie r s , th is C our tha s i n d i cat ed tha ti t s hol di ng i n D e V a r on “ [ di d] notc r e a t e a pr e s um pt i on thatdrug cou riers a re never m i no r or m i ni m al part i ci pant s, any m ore than t hatthey ar e a lw ay s m i no r or m i ni m al , ” but“ [r ] ather . . . [e st abl i shed] on l y thatthe di stri ct c our tm us ta s sess al l o f t he f a c t s pr oba t i ve of

the de f e nda nt ’ s r ol e i n [ hi s ] r e l e va nt c onduc ti n e va l ua t i ng the de f e nda nt ’ s r ol e i n the of

f e ns e . ” U ni t e d S t a t e s v. B oy d, 291 F . 3d 1274, 1277 ( 11th C i r . 2002) . I n drug c our i e r cas e s , “ the a m ountof drugs i m por t e d i s a m a t e r i a l c ons i de r a t i on i n a s s essi n g a de f e nda nt ’ s r ol e i n [ hi s ] r e l e va nt cond uc t ” a nd “ ma y be di s po s i t i ve - - i n a nd of i t s e l f - - i n the e xtr e me ca se . ” D e V a r o n , 1 7 5 F .3 d a t 9 4 3 . S e c ond, w he r e the r e i s su ff i c i e nte vi de nc e , a c our ta l s o m a y m e a s ur e the d e f e n d a n t ’ s c o n d uc ta g a i n s tth a to f o th e rp a r t i c i p a n t s i n th e c r i mi n a l s c h e me a ttr ib u te d to th e d e f

e n d a n t. S e e id . I n m a k in g th is in q u iry , a d is tr ic t c o u r t s h o u ld l ook t o othe rpa r t i ci p an t s onl y t o the e xt e nttha tthe y ( 1) a r e i de nt i f i abl e or di sc ernabl e f

rom the evi dence, and (2) w er e i nv ol ved in th e re l evantcond uctGiven Vivas- Renfeg o’s failure to ca rry his burden on the f

irst prong , we ne ed not re ach 1 the sec ond De Varon prong, but we neverthe less observe that this second principle would also defeat th eaw ard o f a min o r - ro lere d

u c ti o n h e re . Wi th

th ep o s s ib lee xc ep ti o no f c o - c o n s p irato r

Jimin e zBiojo, who c laimed that he wa s the boat’s captain, Vivas- Vivas-Reng efo’ s conduct wa s identical to that of his codef

endants. Theconduct of others who we re involved in the overall scheme of transporting and selli ng cocaine -- the orga nizers or recruiter s or those with an equity interest in the cocaine -- is irreleva

nt to the assessment of Vivas-Reng efo’ s role, as he is not charg ed with a larg er c on sp ira c y

to impo rt

or dis tributedr

ug s, and , in

any e vent, the seindivi du als a reno t ide nti fiable from the evidence . See DeVaron, 175 F.3d at 944. 4 a ttr i but e d t o the d efen d an t . S e e i d. a t944 ( s t a t i ng tha t“ [ t ] he c onduc tof pa r t i c i p a n t s i n a n y l a r g e rc r i mi n a l c o n s p i r a c y i s i rr e l e v a n t ” ) . M o r e o v e r , “ t he am o u n t o f d ru g s im p o rted is a m a te rial co n sid er atio n in as se ss in g a d ef en d an t’ s r o le in [ h is ] r e le v a n t c o n d u c t.” I d . a t 9 4 3 . H e r e , the r e l e va ntc onduc t at t r i but e d t o V i va s - R e nge f o a ts e nt e nc i ng w a s the i m po rt at i on and p osse ss i on of approx i m at el y 3, 58 8 p ou nd s of c o ca i ne, w hi ch re pres ent ed the am ou ntof cocai ne foun d o n the vess el w hen i tw as i nter ce pt ed w i th V i va s - R e nge f

o onboa r d. I nde e d, V i va s - R e nge f o a dm i tt e d a thi s pl e a c ol l oquy th a t h e w a s f

o u n d o n a v e s s e l w ith 3 ,5 8 8 p o u n d s o f c o c a i n e , a n d t h a t h e k n o w in g ly an d i n t en t i o n al l y p o ssesse d th e co cai n e an d i n t en d ed t o d i stri b u t e i t . T h ese a c tiv i tie s d e m o n s tr a te th a t h e p a r tic ip a te d in tr a n s p o r tin g th e d ru g s , a n d th a t h is ro l e w a s notm i nori n the r e l e va ntc onduc tof pos s e s s i on a nd c ons pi r a c y t o p o ssess w i th i nt e nt t o di s tr i bu t e ov e r f i ve ki l og r a ms of c oc a i ne . Se e D e V a r on , 17 5 F . 3d at 944. T he r e f

or e , the f i r s tpr i nc i pl e of

D e V a r on pr e c l ude s a m i norr ol e r e duc t i on. 15

“ S o l on g as the basi s of the tri al court ’ s dec i si on i s s up po rt ed b y the re cord a nd doe s noti nvol ve a m i sap pl i c a t i on of a rul e of

l a w , w e be l i e ve tha ti tw i l l be r a r e f o r an ap p el l at e co u rt t o co n cl u d e th at th e sen t en ci n g co u rt ’ s d et erm i n at i o n is cl ea rl y e rr on eous. ” I d. at94 5 (em ph asis in o rig in al ). H er e, w e c anno tfi nd cl ea r e rr o rin th e d is tr ic t c o u r t’s c o n c lu s io n th a t V iv a s - R e n g e f o p l a y e d a n in te g r a l r o le in the c ha r ge d of

f e ns e s a nd, acco rd i n g l y , w a s note nt i t l e d t o a m i nor - r ol e r e duc t i on, pur s ua ntt o ourde c i s i on i n D e V a r on. AF F I RME D.