Source: http://nj.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20030904_0000680.C03.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2018-02-22 03:27:04
Document Index: 741315210

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 952', '§ 3', '§ 5', '§ 3231', '§ 1291', '§ 3742']

RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ APPELLANT
On Appeal From the United States District Court For the District of New Jersey (D.C. No. 02-cr-00092) District Judge: Honorable Alfred M. Wolin
Before: Alito, Fuentes, and Becker, Circuit Judges
Argued: July 23, 2003
Rodriguez was charged with importing more than 100 grams of heroin into the United States, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952(a) and 960(b)(2).*fn1 He pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement. In the agreement, the government represented that it would not oppose Rodriguez' claim that he was a minor participant entitled to a two level decrease under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. At sentencing, the government once again expressed its willingness to see Rodriguez awarded the minor participant two level downward adjustment; it also agreed that Rodriguez had met the criteria for the "safety-valve" limitation on applicability of statutory minimum sentences pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2.*fn2
At sentencing, the District Court gave effect to the safetyvalve, but denied the downward adjustment for being a minor participant.
The District Court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231 and this court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742. As we view the District Court's determination about burden of proof as a question of law, our review is plenary. See United States v. Isaza-Zapata, 148 F.3d 236, 237 (3d Cir. 1998).
In making its determination as to whether Rodriguez would receive the minor participant downward adjustment, the District Court used United States v. Headley, 923 F.2d 1079 (3d. Cir. 1991), as its frame of reference. In Headley, we applied a series of factors to facilitate the minor participant analysis. Those factors are "the nature of the defendant's relationship to other participants, the importance of the defendant's actions to the success of the venture, and the defendant's awareness of the nature and scope of the criminal enterprise." Headley at 1084 (quoting United States v. Garcia, 920 F.2d 153, 155 (2d Cir. 1990)).*fn3 Although these factors will be highly useful in assessing a defendant's relative culpability where a great deal is known about the drug ring, e.g., the Philadelphia based drug ring in Headley itself, these ...