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The Honorable David R. Hansen stepped down as Chief Judge of the United

States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at the close of business on March 31,

2003. He has been succeeded by the Honorable James B. Loken.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

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No. 02-3008

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United States of America,

Appellee,

v.

Jose A. Chacon,

Appellant.

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Appeal from the United States

District Court for the

Western District of Missouri.

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Submitted: February 10, 2003

 Filed: June 6, 2003

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Before HANSEN,1

 Chief Judge, LOKEN and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

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HANSEN, Circuit Judge.

Jose A. Chacon pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more

of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and aiding and abetting the possession of

500 grams or more of cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2.

Each conviction carried a statutory minimum sentence of sixty months in prison, see
2 The Honorable Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr., United States District Judge for the

Western District of Missouri. 

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21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B)(ii), and the district court2 advised Chacon of the statutory

minimum at the change-of-plea hearing. At the sentencing hearing, however,

everyone overlooked the existence of the statutory minimum. The district court

calculated Chacon's Guidelines imprisonment range as fifty-one to sixty-three months

and sentenced him to fifty-one months in prison and four years of supervised release.

The next day, the government timely moved under Federal Rule of Criminal

Procedure 35(c) to correct Chacon's sentence, reminding the district court of the

statutory minimum. At the resentencing hearing, defense counsel concurred in the

existence of the statutory minimum, but urged the district court to depart below it

pursuant to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5K2.0. Recognizing that § 5K2.0

did not authorize a sentence below the statutory minimum, the district court

resentenced Chacon to sixty months in prison and four years of supervised release.

Chacon now appeals his sentence.

When the minimum sentence required by statute is greater than the minimum

sentence the Guidelines would otherwise require, the statute controls, and the

statutory minimum sets the Guidelines minimum. See U.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(c)(2) &

comment.; United States v. Wolfe, 215 F.3d 811, 812 (8th Cir. 2000). The district

court was correct that it could not use § 5K2.0 to depart below the statutory minimum

because "the only authority for the district court to depart below the statutorily

mandated minimum sentence is found in 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(e) and (f), which apply

only when the government makes a motion for substantial assistance or when the

defendant qualifies under the safety valve provision." See United States v. Auginash,

266 F.3d 781, 785 (8th Cir. 2001) (citation and internal marks omitted). The

government did not file a substantial-assistance downward-departure motion under

§ 3553(e), so that avenue was not open to Chacon. Chacon, who pleaded guilty
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without a plea agreement on the last business day before his trial was scheduled to

begin, was also ineligible to be sentenced below the statutory minimum pursuant to

the safety-valve provision because he did not divulge to the government "all

information and evidence" he had concerning his offenses and relevant conduct, as

required by § 3553(f)(5).

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.