Source: http://openjurist.org/174/f3d/52/united-states-v-smith
Timestamp: 2015-07-07 21:57:26
Document Index: 462148311

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 841', '§ 846', '§ 846', '§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 5']

174 F3d 52 United States v. Smith | OpenJurist
174 F. 3d 52 - United States v. Smith	Home174 f3d 52 united states v. smith
174 F3d 52 United States v. Smith 174 F.3d 52
UNITED STATES of America, Appellant,v.Damon SMITH, a/k/a "Shorty"; Eric Smith, a/k/a "Dog,"Defendants-Appellees.
Docket Nos. 97-1683, 97-1685.
Argued Sept. 25, 1998.Decided March 31, 1999.
Paul D. Silver, Assistant United States Attorney, Northern District of New York (Thomas J. Maroney, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Albany, NY, of counsel), for Appellant.
F. Stanton Ackerman, Albany, N.Y. (Ackerman, Wachs & Finton, Albany, NY, of counsel), for Appellant Damon Smith.
Renee N. McLaughlin, Albany, NY, for Appellant Eric Smith.
Appellant, United States of America, appeals from judgments of conviction of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Scullin, J., which sentenced appellee Eric Smith (Eric) to a term of imprisonment of seventy-five months for distribution of crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and his brother Damon Smith (Damon) to a term of fifty-seven months for conspiracy to distribute and possess crack cocaine pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 846. On this appeal we must decide (1) whether the district court erred in concluding that each defendant satisfied the criteria of section 5C1.2 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines" or "U.S.S.G."), and thus was entitled to a two-point offense level reduction under Guidelines section 2D1.1(b)(6), and (2) whether the district court erred in refusing to enhance Damon's offense level by two points, pursuant to Guidelines section 2D1.1(b)(1), based on the presence of firearms at his residence when he was arrested.
For the reasons that follow, we vacate the judgments of conviction and remand the cases for resentencing. On remand, the district court is instructed (1) not to afford Eric a two-level reduction under section 2D1.1(b)(6); and (2) to make specific findings as to (a) whether Damon satisfied the second and fifth criteria of section 5C1.2, and (b) whether Damon should have received a two-level enhancement pursuant to section 2D1.1(b)(1).
The facts pertinent to this appeal are not in dispute. On February 12, 1997 a six-count indictment was returned against the defendants in the Northern District of New York. Count one charged them with conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846; counts two through five charged them with distribution of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); and count six charged them with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Finally, one count of the indictment sought forfeiture of Damon's Lexus automobile.
On July 16, 1997, pursuant to a written plea agreement, Eric entered a guilty plea to count five of the indictment charging him with a single distribution of crack cocaine. The Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) on Eric calculated a total offense level of thirty-one and a criminal history category of I, corresponding to an imprisonment range of 108-135 months. The government agreed to an adjustment of the offense level from thirty-one to twenty-nine, reducing the imprisonment range to 87-108 months. The PSR noted that Guidelines section 2D1.1(b)(6) might entitle Eric to a two-point reduction in his offense level if he were found to have satisfied all five criteria listed in section 5C1.2 (the provision more commonly known as the "safety valve").
At sentencing, the district court determined that Eric had complied with the requirements of section 5C1.2 and thus was entitled to a two-level decrease under section 2D1.1(b)(6). The government objected, contending that Eric's repeated refusals to communicate with the government--a strategy apparently undertaken to avoid implicating his brother Damon--prevented Eric from satisfying the fifth safety valve criterion, which requires the defendant to have "truthfully provided to the Government all information and evidence [he] has concerning the offense or offenses" in question. U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2(5). Nevertheless, the district court, over the objection of the government, applied the two-point reduction. This reduced the total offense level to twenty-seven which, when combined with Eric's criminal history category of I, resulted in an imprisonment range of seventy to eighty-seven months. The court imposed a seventy-five month term of imprisonment.
On August 11, 1997, pursuant to a written plea agreement, Damon entered a plea of guilty to the conspiracy charged in count one and stipulated to the automobile forfeiture. Damon's PSR disclosed that on February 6, 1997 Damon was stopped by police and found to be in possession of nine grams of cocaine base. On that same day police executed a search warrant at Damon's residence, where they found three guns, ammunition, a scale and a razor blade, along with six grams of cocaine base in Damon's bedroom. Based on the firearms found in Damon's bedroom, the PSR recommended that his offense level be increased by two levels pursuant to Guidelines section 2D1.1(b)(1), which provides for such an enhancement "[i]f a dangerous weapon (including a firearm) was possessed."
Damon's sentencing hearing immediately followed Eric's. Perhaps e