Source: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2001/08/00-3321.htm
Timestamp: 2018-05-27 05:15:01
Document Index: 772323598

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 3231', '§ 3742', '§ 3742']

00-3321 -- U.S. v. Smith -- 08/29/2001
| Keyword | Case | Docket | Date: Filed / Added | (24007 bytes) (18967 bytes)
Before EBEL,HOLLOWAY and LUCERO, Circuit Judges.
The underlying facts in this case are not disputed. John Smith's girlfriend was in a car accident. The towing company reported a possible methamphetamine lab in the vehicle. DEA agents searched the car and found several jugs full of a milky substance with white sediment at the bottom, two glass cooking pans, a bottle of butane, coffee filters, and a digital scale. The milky substance contained more than 194 grams of pseudoephedrine, one of the main ingredients needed to manufacture methamphetamine using the ephedrine reduction method.(1) One step in this manufacturing process is to crush pseudoephedrine pills and soak them in water.
Smith pleaded guilty in this case to possessing pseudoephedrine (a "listed chemical") knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(c)(2). The relevant Sentencing Guideline for possessing a listed chemical (such as pseudoephedrine) is § 2D1.11. In Smith's case, his base offense level under § 2D1.11 for 194 grams of pseudoephedrine would be 18. That guideline provides, however, that "[i]f the offense involved . . . attempting to manufacture a controlled substance unlawfully, apply § 2D1.1 . . . if the resulting offense level is greater than" the level under § 2D1.11. See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.11(c)(1) & application note 2. The PSR determined that Smith was attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, a controlled substance, and therefore applied the cross-reference to § 2D1.1. Using a conservative 50% conversion rate, the PSR found that Smith could have produced 89.7 grams of pure methamphetamine from the pseudoephedrine found in Smith's car, for a base offense level of 30 under the Sentencing Guidelines in effect at the time of Smith's crime.
Smith objected to the application of § 2D1.1 instead of § 2D1.11. The district court overruled this objection and sentenced him to 92 months' imprisonment. On appeal, Smith argues that his actions were not an attempt to manufacture methamphetamine and therefore the application of § 2D1.1 was incorrect.
The district court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction to review the sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). We review the district court's interpretation and application of the Sentencing Guidelines de novo and its factual findings for clear error. United States v. Arevalo, 242 F.3d 925, 927 (10th Cir. 2001). We must "give due deference to the district court's application of the guidelines to the facts." 18 U.S.C. § 3742(e).
1.The Eighth Circuit recently summarized this method:
United States v. Hollingsworth, -- F.3d --, -- n.2, 2001 WL 849208 (8th Cir. 2001).
URL: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2001/08/00-3321.htm.