FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, No. 04-30541

v. D.C. No.  CR-03-00129-FVS ROSHON E. THOMAS, aka Rollin

Roy Phillips, OPINION

Defendant-Appellant. 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Washington

Fred L. Van Sickle, Chief Judge, Presiding

Submitted March 9, 2006*

Seattle, Washington

Filed May 18, 2006

Before: Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, Barry G. Silverman, and

Ronald M. Gould, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge O’Scannlain

*This panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without

oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). 

5427
COUNSEL

Richard D. Wall, Spokane, Washington, was on the briefs for

the appellant. 

James A. McDevitt, United States Attorney, and Joseph A.

Harrington, Assistant United States Attorney, were on the

brief for the appellee. 

5430 UNITED STATES v. THOMAS
OPINION

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge: 

This case requires us to consider whether a driver of a

rental car who is not listed on the rental agreement has standing to challenge a police search of the vehicle.

I

Michael Bahr, a Spokane City, Washington, police officer

and Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) task force officer,

received a tip regarding the defendant-appellant, Roshon

Thomas, in November 2002. Officer Bahr never met with the

undisclosed source of the tips (“the Source”), whose identity

has remained confidential out of concern for the individual’s

safety.1 Officer Bahr spoke with the Source over the phone,

determined its identity, and learned that the Source had never

been arrested or convicted of a criminal offense. The Source

received no compensation for the information provided to

Officer Bahr. 

The Source told Officer Bahr that Thomas had been renting

cars—or instructing others to rent them for him—which he

would use to transport crack cocaine from Long Beach, California, to Spokane, Washington. Approximately 1-2 years earlier, the Source rented a vehicle at Thomas’s direction.

Thomas and the Source drove the vehicle to Long Beach,

where the Source was present when Thomas purchased crack

cocaine, which they then transported back up to Spokane in

the rental vehicle. The Source reported that Thomas made

similar trips with other individuals every six to eight weeks.

1Thus, the source is not “unidentified,” as Thomas suggests. 

UNITED STATES v. THOMAS 5431
A

In November 2002, according to the Source, Thomas

obtained and transported crack cocaine from Long Beach for

an individual named Antonio Crawford, who had recently

been arrested for the distribution of crack cocaine. The Source

explained that Jamie McGuffey rented the vehicle Thomas

used to transport the drugs from Long Beach. The Source

stated that McGuffey usually rented cars from Dollar Rental

Company or Budget Rental Company at the Spokane Airport.

The police then corroborated the Source’s information, to

the extent possible. Officer Bahr was aware that during that

month, Crawford had been arrested for the distribution of

crack cocaine. The Spokane County Gang Unit advised Officer Bahr that McGuffey was one of Thomas’s known associates. Officers also spoke with a manager at the Spokane

Airport location of the Budget Rental Car Company

(“Budget”), who confirmed that McGuffey had rented a car in

November 2002, and returned it with 2,889 additional miles

on the odometer. Based on his training and experience, Officer Bahr concluded that this milage was consistent with a

round trip from Spokane to Long Beach. The Budget manager

later informed Officer Bahr that Thomas had rented cars from

Budget on three prior occasions, though milage information

had been expunged from company computers. 

B

In December 2002, the Source again provided Officer Bahr

with information that Thomas would be traveling to Long

Beach with his family over the Christmas holiday. Again the

Source asserted that the purpose of the trip was to transport

crack cocaine. The Spokane County prosecutor’s office

informed Officer Bahr that an arrest warrant had been issued

for Thomas, but Officer Bahr was further advised that the

warrant had been recalled due to a miscommunication

between Thomas and the prosecutor’s office. 

5432 UNITED STATES v. THOMAS
C

On February 27, 2003, the Budget manager at the Spokane

Airport contacted Officer Bahr to inform him that Thomas

and McGuffey had attempted to rent a car that day. Budget

refused to rent Thomas and McGuffey a car because both had

outstanding unpaid late fees. The Budget manager told Officer Bahr that he intended to warn the other rental car services

at the Spokane Airport about Thomas and McGuffey. 

On March 4, 2003, a representative from National Car

Rental (“National”) at the Spokane Airport called Officer

Bahr and reported that McGuffey had just made a four-day

rental reservation. McGuffey was scheduled to pick up the car

— a white 2003 Dodge Intrepid — at noon the following day.

National’s manager agreed to allow the police to install a

tracking device in the car while the car was in National’s

garage facility before rental to McGuffey.2

On March 5, McGuffey entered into a rental contract with

National. McGuffey signed the rental agreement below the

following text: “Only I and authorised driver(s) may drive the

vehicle.” The contract did not list Thomas as an authorized

driver. 

D

On March 8, 2003, the tracking device alerted police that

McGuffey’s rental car returned to Washington State. Because

Officer Bahr was unavailable at the time, he contacted another

DEA officer who, accompanied by Washington State Patrol

troopers, monitored the freeways until a car matching the

description of the rental car—including a matching license

plate number—appeared at approximately 1:30 a.m. 

2Though National’s manager granted permission, Officer Bahr also

obtained a warrant authorizing him to install the tracking device. 

UNITED STATES v. THOMAS 5433
After stopping the car, the DEA agent approached the car

and recognized Thomas from a booking photograph that he

had been given by Officer Bahr. There were no other individuals in the vehicle. Thomas presented officers with a driver’s

license bearing the name “Roland Phillips.” After further confirming Thomas’s true identity by checking his tattoos, officers arrested Thomas based on an outstanding warrant. The

police then searched the rental vehicle and found, among

other items, nearly 600 grams of cocaine in what police

described as “a Sprint bag, a small . . . telephone bag,” located

next to the spare tire in the vehicle’s trunk.3 They also found

$1200 and 25.1 grams of heroin. 

E

Thomas’s counsel moved to suppress the evidence seized

from the rental car. During the suppression hearing, Thomas

asserted that the use of the tracking device violated his right

to privacy under Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479

(1965), but did not contend that McGuffey gave him permission to use or to drive the rental car.4

 The district court concluded that Thomas “failed” to show that McGuffey gave

permission to use the car because “nothing was presented in

[Thomas’s] favor at the suppression hearing.”

5

 The district

3The record does not disclose whether Thomas consented to the search,

but the government does not attempt to justify the search on consent

grounds. Because the burden is on the government to show consent,

United States v. Chan-Jimenez, 125 F.3d 1324, 1327 (9th Cir. 1997),

therefore, we assume that Thomas did not consent to the search. 

4Thomas’s trial counsel’s decision not to call any witnesses on the

standing issue were Thomas’s grounds for a later motion to withdraw his

guilty plea. 

5Thomas contends that the district court reached inherently contradictory factual conclusions regarding McGuffey permission (or lack thereof)

to use the rental car. Though the district court noted that Thomas did not

present any evidence showing that McGuffey loaned Thomas the rental

car, the district court also stated that “McGuffey’s decision to allow Mr.

Thomas to drive the rental car nullified the rental agreement” (emphasis

5434 UNITED STATES v. THOMAS
court denied Thomas’s motion to suppress on several

grounds: an unauthorized driver of a rental car has no expectation of privacy, so Thomas lacked standing to challenge the

search; there was probable cause to issue a search warrant;

monitoring public movements was not a search in the first

place; a Terry stop was proper under the circumstances; the

automobile exception applied and supported the search; and

discovery was inevitable in any event. 

After the district court denied Thomas’s motion to suppress, Thomas entered a conditional guilty plea to one count

of Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance

in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).6 The district court sentenced Thomas to 188 months pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1.

Thomas remains in custody and timely appeals. 

II

Thomas contends that he has standing to challenge an

added). Thomas asserts that this statement conflicts with the conclusion

that McGuffey did not give Thomas permission to use the rental car. 

We disagree. The district court noted “McGuffey’s decision to allow”

Thomas to drive the rental car as part of its alternative holding that the discovery of the drugs was inevitable. The district court could only reach the

inevitable discovery question after concluding that Thomas had standing

—that is, assuming he had permission to use the car. The district court’s

statement does not abrogate its clear factual conclusion that McGuffey did

not give Thomas permission to use the car. 

In any event, it is undisputed that Thomas presented no evidence during

the suppression hearing that McGuffey gave permission to use the rental

car. Thus, had the district court concluded that McGuffey gave Thomas

permission, that conclusion would not be supported by any evidence and

we would reject it as clearly erroneous. 

6Thomas later attempted to withdraw this plea, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel. The district court denied the motion to withdraw the

guilty plea, and Thomas does not appeal that decision. 

UNITED STATES v. THOMAS 5435
allegedly unconstitutional search of the rental car even though

he was not formally authorized to drive the car.7

A

[1] To evaluate whether an unauthorized driver has a privacy interest in a rental car, we consider whether “the person

who claims the protection of the [Fourth] Amendment has a

legitimate expectation of privacy in the invaded place.” Rakas

v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 143 (1978). An expectation of privacy is legitimate if it is one which society accepts as objectively reasonable. See Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 95-96

(1990); California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35, 39 (1988).

Courts have developed at least three approaches to determining when an unauthorized driver of a rental vehicle has standing to challenge a search. 

The first approach is seen in the Fourth, Fifth, and Tenth

Circuits.8See United States v. Wellons, 32 F.3d 117, 119 (4th

Cir. 1994); United States v. Boruff, 909 F.2d 111, 117 (5th

Cir. 1990); United States v. Roper, 918 F.2d 885, 887-88

(10th Cir. 1990). These courts have all adopted a bright-line

7We review a motion to suppress de novo. United States v. Bynum, 362

F.3d 574, 578 (9th Cir. 2004); United States v. Meek, 366 F.3d 705, 711

(9th Cir. 2004). Findings of fact underlying the district court’s determination are reviewed for clear error. Bynum, 362 F.3d at 578. 

8

In United States v. Kye Soo Lee, 898 F.2d 1034 (5th Cir. 1990), the

Fifth Circuit concluded that an unauthorized driver may have standing to

challenge the search of a rental truck if the driver had the renter’s permission. However, later Fifth Circuit cases have followed a bright-line

approach and have noted that Kye Soo Lee “is not controlling . . . because

it neither reflects nor addresses the terms of the truck rental agreement.”

United States v. Seeley, 331 F.3d 471, 472 n.1 (5th Cir. 2003); see also

United States v. Dortch, 199 F.3d 193, 205 (5th Cir. 1999) (“The suppression hearing record does contain evidence that under the rental agreement

neither Dortch nor the passenger was an authorized driver. These facts distinguish the instant case from [Kye Soo Lee.]”). Similarly, in this case,

where the rental agreement shows that only McGuffey was authorized to

drive the car, Kye Soo Lee is inapplicable. 

5436 UNITED STATES v. THOMAS
test: An individual not listed on the rental agreement lacks

standing to object to a search. Their cases reason that because

an unauthorized driver lacks a property or possessory interest

in the car, the driver does not have an expectation of privacy

in it. See also United States v. Haywood, 324 F.3d 514, 516

(7th Cir. 2003) (concluding that where the driver lacks a valid

license, the rental company would not have granted permission to use the vehicle, and there is no expectation of privacy). 

The second approach, seen in the Eighth Circuit, is a modification of the majority bright-line approach, and generally

disallows standing unless the unauthorized driver can show he

or she had the permission of the authorized driver. United

States v. Best, 135 F.3d 1223, 1225 (8th Cir. 1998); United

States v. Muhammad, 58 F.3d 353, 355 (8th Cir. 1995) (per

curiam). The Eighth Circuit reasoned that an unauthorized

driver would have standing after a showing of “consensual

possession” of the rental car. Muhammad, 58 F.3d at 355 (citing United States v. Sanchez, 943 F.2d 110, 114 (1st Cir.

1991), which held, for a privately owned car, that a defendant

would have standing on a showing of “a more intimate relationship with the car’s owner or a history of regular use of the

[car]”). In effect, this approach equates an unauthorized driver

of a rental car with a non-owner driver of a privately owned

car. Cf. United States v. Portillo, 633 F.2d 1313, 1317 (9th

Cir. 1980) (holding non-owner has standing to challenge a

search where he has “permission to use his friend’s automobile and the keys to the ignition and the trunk, with which he

could exclude all others, save his friend, the owner”); Sanchez, 943 F.2d at 114. 

The third approach, adopted in the Sixth Circuit, examines

the totality of the circumstances. United States v. Smith, 263

F.3d 571, 586 (6th Cir. 2001). In Smith, the Sixth Circuit

noted a broad presumption against granting unauthorized

drivers standing to challenge a search. However, the court

stated that the “rigid [bright-line] test is inappropriate, given

UNITED STATES v. THOMAS 5437
that we must determine whether [the defendant] had a legitimate expectation of privacy which was reasonable in light of

all the surrounding circumstances.” Id. (citing Rakas, 439

U.S. at 152 (Powell, J., concurring)). Instead, the court opted

to consider a range of factors, including: (1) whether the

defendant had a driver’s license; (2) the relationship between

the unauthorized driver and the lessee; (3) the driver’s ability

to present rental documents; (4) whether the driver had the

lessee’s permission to use the car; and (5) the driver’s relationship with the rental company, and held that the defendant

had standing to challenge the search. Id. 

B

[2] The extent of an unauthorized driver’s standing to challenge a rental automobile search is a question of first impression in this Circuit. We have previously held that the owner

of an automobile has a legitimate expectation of privacy in the

car, and therefore he has standing to object to an unconstitutional search. See United States v. Kovac, 795 F.2d 1509,

1510-11 (9th Cir. 1986) (citing Rakas, 439 U.S. at 144 n.12).

In contrast, “a person does not possess a reasonable expectation of privacy in an item in which he has no possessory or

ownership interest.” United States v. Cormier, 220 F.3d 1103,

1108 (9th Cir. 2000) (citing and discussing United States v.

Miller, 425 U.S. 435, 440 (1976)). Thus, the question

becomes whether an unauthorized driver has a possessory or

ownership interest in the car. 

[3] A “possessory or ownership interest” need not be

defined narrowly: A reasonable expectation of privacy may be

shown “ ‘either by reference to concepts of real or personal

property law or to understandings that are recognized and permitted by society.’ ” Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 88

(1998) (quoting Rakas, 439 U.S. at 142 n.12). Therefore, a

defendant who lacks an ownership interest may still have

standing to challenge a search, upon a showing of “joint control” or “common authority” over the property searched.

5438 UNITED STATES v. THOMAS
Compare Portillo, 633 F.2d at 1317 (defendant has standing

to challenge a search of a friend’s car because he was in possession of the car with the permission of the owner), and

United States v. Johns, 851 F.2d 1131, 1136 (9th Cir. 1988)

(defendants have standing to challenge search of a storage

unit over which they had joint control and supervision), with

United States v. Lockett, 919 F.2d 585, 588 (9th Cir. 1990)

(defendant who did not reside at or show a proprietary interest

in a residence, and who could not show joint control or supervision of the property, lacks standing to challenge a search).

[4] Common authority rests “on mutual use of the property

by persons generally having joint access or control for most

purposes.” Illinois v. Rodriguez, 497 U.S. 177, 181 (1990)

(quotation omitted). For example, in United States v. Jones,

362 U.S. 257, 259, 265 (1960), the defendant had standing to

challenge a search of a friend’s apartment when he had permission to use the apartment, had a key to the apartment,

stored his belongings there, and had the right and ability to

exclude others, except the owner, from the apartment. See

also Rakas, 439 U.S. at 148-49 (contrasting Jones with a

defendant who “asserted neither a property nor a possessory

interest in the automobile, nor an interest in the property

seized”). Similarly, in United States v. Portillo we held that

a defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy in his

friend’s car, though the defendant lacked any cognizable

property interest in the car. 633 F.2d at 1317. We noted that

a defendant may have a legitimate expectation of privacy in

another’s car if the defendant is in possession of the car, has

the permission of the owner, holds a key to the car, and has

the right and ability to exclude others, except the owner, from

the car. See id. 

[5] The government notes that a driver has no legal right to

control or to possess a rental car in contravention of the lease

agreement. While it is true that an unauthorized driver may be

in violation of the rental agreement, we have previously held

that a privacy interest exists even if a defendant is in technical

UNITED STATES v. THOMAS 5439
violation of a leasing contract. For example, in United States

v. Henderson, 241 F.3d 638, 647 (9th Cir. 2001), we held that

the lessee of a rental car has a reasonable expectation of privacy in it, even after the lease period expires, as long as the

lessee retains possession and control over the car. See also

United States v. Cooper, 133 F.3d 1394, 1398-1402 (11th Cir.

1998) (holding that defendant has standing to challenge

search of a rental car after lease period expired). Similarly, we

have noted that “the mere expiration of the rental period, in

the absence of affirmative acts of repossession by the lessor,

does not automatically end a lessee’s expectations of privacy”

in a motel room. United States v. Dorais, 241 F.3d 1124, 1129

(9th Cir. 2001); see also United States v. Owens, 782 F.2d

146, 150 (10th Cir. 1986) (motel guest has a right to privacy

that continues after check-out time). Under Henderson, it cannot be said that a defendant’s privacy interest is dependent

simply upon whether the defendant is in violation of the terms

of his lease agreement. 

[6] Thus, we must reject the government’s contention that

a defendant not listed on a lease agreement lacks standing to

challenge a search. Based on Portillo, Jones, Dorais, and

Henderson, we cannot base constitutional standing entirely on

a rental agreement to which the unauthorized driver was not

a party and may not capture the nature of the unauthorized

driver’s use of the car. See Rakas, 439 U.S. at 143 (stating

that “arcane distinctions developed in property and tort law

. . . ought not . . . control” the reasonableness of an expectation of privacy (citing Jones, 362 U.S. at 266)). Rather, an

unauthorized driver who received permission to use a rental

car and has joint authority over the car may challenge the

search to the same extent as the authorized renter. This

approach is in accord with precedent holding that indicia of

ownership—including the right to exclude others—coupled

with possession and the permission of the rightful owner, are

sufficient grounds upon which to find standing. Jones, 362

U.S. at 266; Portillo, 633 F.2d at 1317. 

5440 UNITED STATES v. THOMAS
[7] Therefore, we agree with the Eighth Circuit: An unauthorized driver may have standing to challenge a search if he

or she has received permission to use the car. 

C

[8] Thomas, an unauthorized driver, only has standing to

challenge the search of a rental automobile if he received permission to use the rental car from the authorized renter,

McGuffey. See Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 104

(1980) (defendant has the burden of proving a legitimate

expectation of privacy). Here, it is undisputed that Thomas

failed to show that he received McGuffey’s permission to use

the car. Therefore, the district court properly concluded that

Thomas lacks standing to challenge the search.9

III

Thomas asserts that the district court made four errors in sentencing.10 First, he contends that the district court misapplied

U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(b) by wrongly construing the definition of

an “Offense Statutory Maximum.” Second, Thomas contends

that the district court improperly applied U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(b)

by considering offenses to which Thomas neither admitted

nor had been proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Third, Thomas contends, solely in his Reply Brief, that the

9Because Thomas lacked standing to challenge the search, we need not

consider whether the search was proper under the automobile exception,

Maryland v. Dyson, 527 U.S. 465, 465-66 (1999) (per curiam), or whether

the discovery of the drugs was inevitable, Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431,

444 (1984). 

10A sentence imposed pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act, postBooker, is reviewed for reasonableness. United States v. Booker, 125

S. Ct. 738, 765-56 (2005); United States v. Ameline, 409 F.3d 1073, 1085

(9th Cir. 2005) (en banc). This court reviews the interpretation and application of the guidelines de novo. United States v. Nielsen, 371 F.3d 574,

582 (9th Cir. 2004). Factual findings in the sentencing phase are reviewed

for clear error. Id. at 582. 

UNITED STATES v. THOMAS 5441
district court enhanced his sentence based on judge-found

facts. Fourth, Thomas suggests, again only in his Reply Brief,

that the district court erred by not advising him that he had the

right to have a jury determine drug quantity beyond a reasonable doubt. 

A

[9] Under the Career Offender sentencing provision,

U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(b), a career offender is assigned an offense

level based on the “Offense Statutory Maximum” for the

offense of conviction. Thomas argues that Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 303-04 (2004), redefines “statutory

maximum” as the maximum sentence a judge can impose

based solely on the facts as found by the jury or admitted by

the defendant. Thus, Thomas contends that the “statutory

maximum” should be “based upon the standard guideline

range for the offense.” 

[10] However, according to § 4B1.1 application note 2, the

term “Offense Statutory Maximum” instead “refers to the

maximum term of imprisonment authorized for the offense of

conviction that is a crime of violence or controlled substance

offense.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1, cmt. n. 2. The application note

defines “Offense Statutory Maximum” as the maximum term

authorized by the statute for the offense of conviction, not, as

Thomas suggests, as the maximum penalty which the defendant could receive under his unique circumstances. Further,

the career offender provision involves a determination of the

crime’s maximum potential punishment, a definition of “statutory maximum” that Blakely did not affect. See United States

v. Murillo, 422 F.3d 1152, 1155 (9th Cir. 2005), cert. denied,

2006 WL 849747 (2006) (noting that Blakely “involved the

‘maximum sentence’ a judge may impose based on the jury’s

verdict or the defendant’s admissions,” but does not “modify

a crime’s potential punishment”); see also id. (noting that the

categorization of predicate offenses based on the statutory

maximum, rather than the guidelines maximum, “faces none

5442 UNITED STATES v. THOMAS
of the Sixth Amendment concerns that prompted the . . .

Blakely decision”).

[11] Thomas pled guilty to a charge under 21 U.S.C.

§ 841(a)(1), a class B felony carrying a statutory maximum of

30 years under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C). The offense statutory maximum was, therefore, 30 years. The sentence under

§ 4B1.1 was proper. 

B

Next, Thomas argues that the district court wrongly used

the fact of a prior conviction to increase his sentence, even

though he had not admitted to any of the prior convictions and

they were not proven to a jury. Thomas argues that

Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 244

(1998), holding that the fact of a prior conviction need not be

proven to a jury, may not remain good law after Blakely. We

rejected this argument in United States v. Weiland, 420 F.3d

1062, 1079 (9th Cir. 2005), cert. denied 2006 WL 219971

(2006), and do so again here. 

C

[12] Thomas next contends that the district court improperly enhanced his sentence on the basis of judge-found facts.

The district court did not, however, determine the drug quantity; this amount was stipulated to in the plea agreement—to

which, of course, Thomas agreed—which stated that, "Officers seized 490.3 grams of powder cocaine and 25.1 grams of

heroin from the trunk of the car." The district court did not

commit any error in sentencing Thomas on the basis of facts

to which he admitted. 

D

Thomas’s final contention is that the district court erred by

failing to inform him of his right to have a jury determine the

UNITED STATES v. THOMAS 5443
drug quantity beyond a reasonable doubt. This argument was

also not presented in Thomas’s opening brief and therefore is

waived. Arpin v. Santa Clara Valley Trans. Agency, 261 F.3d

912, 919 (9th Cir. 2001) (“[I]ssues which are not specifically

and distinctly argued and raised in a party’s opening brief are

waived.”). 

IV

Thomas contends that he is entitled to a remand under

United States v. Ameline, 409 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir. 2005) (en

banc).11 The government disagrees, and asserts that comments

made by the district court indicate that the court would have

imposed the same sentence had the Guidelines been advisory.

Specifically, the district court stated that, “I had some consideration about whether or not you shouldn’t be sentenced to a

sentence greater than the low end . . . .” Based on this remark,

the government urges that Thomas is not entitled to a remand.

[13] To be eligible for an Ameline remand, Thomas “must

demonstrate a reasonable probability that he would have

received a different sentence had the district judge known that

the sentencing guidelines were advisory.” Id. at 1078. We do

not take the district court’s comment to be an unambiguous

pronouncement that it would have entered an identical sentence had the Guidelines been advisory. In the end, the district

court gave the defendant the minimum sentence (188 months,

for a sentence range of 188 to 235 months). Given that the

district court considered and explicitly rejected the option of

giving Thomas a longer sentence and instead selected the statutory minimum sentence, we cannot say with certainty that

Thomas would have received an identical sentence—rather

11Thomas did not object to the imposition of a Guideline sentence, so

any error under United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), is unpreserved and is reviewed for plain error. Ameline, 409 F.3d at 1078. 

5444 UNITED STATES v. THOMAS
than one below the Guidelines minimum—had the district

court known that the Guidelines were advisory.12

[14] In sum, it is impossible to determine definitively

whether there was any prejudicial error in the sentencing.

Under the circumstances, a limited Ameline remand is necessary. 

V

For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the district court

is AFFIRMED in part and REMANDED pursuant to Ameline.

12If that were not enough, later in the sentencing, the district court

remarked that, “I don’t agree with the length of sentences or mandatory

minimums that are involved in many occasions, but they’re the law.” The

fact that the district court expressed some reservations about mandatory

minimum sentences compounds the likelihood that the defendant’s substantial rights were violated. 

UNITED STATES v. THOMAS 5445