Source: http://openjurist.org/383/f3d/430
Timestamp: 2015-03-29 14:05:25
Document Index: 370974244

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 5', '§ 3553']

383 F3d 430 United States v. Schray | OpenJurist
383 F. 3d 430 - United States v. Schray	Home383 f3d 430 united states v. schray
383 F3d 430 United States v. Schray 383 F.3d 430
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Bryan Scott SCHRAY, Defendant-Appellant.
Decided and Filed: September 10, 2004.
B. Rene Shekmer (briefed), U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Frank E. Stanley (briefed), Grand Rapids, MI, for Defendant-Appellant.
Defendant, Bryan Scott Schray, appeals a January 10, 2003 judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, sentencing Defendant to 120 months imprisonment for manufacturing more than one thousand marijuana plants, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and § 841(b)(1)(A)(vii). For the reasons set forth below, we VACATE the sentence and REMAND for re-sentencing.
On August 14, 2002, Defendant, represented by counsel, entered into a written waiver of the indictment requirement for the charges of having manufactured more than one thousand marijuana plants, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and § 841(b)(1)(A)(vii). On the same day, Defendant entered into a plea agreement admitting that on or about June 17, 2002, in Ingham County, in the Western District of Michigan, Defendant committed the offenses with which he was charged.
On December 23, 2002, the government made a motion for a downward departure under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual ("U.S.S.G.") § 5K1.1, based on Defendant's substantial assistance to the government in the investigation of others. Defendant later made a separate motion for downward departure based upon his rehabilitation, although no guidelines provision provided for such a departure. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b)(1) (allowing for departure from the guidelines, where "the court finds that there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines").
On January 10, 2003, the district court held a sentencing hearing. After hearing arguments in favor of the requested departures, the district court declined to grant a downward departure. On the same day, the district court entered judgment, sentencing Defendant to a prison term of 120 months.
On January 17, 2003, Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal.
Defendant's appeal relates only to the denial of the government's motion for a downward departure. Defendant raises two issues. First, Defendant contends that the district court erred as a matter of law in concluding that its only options were to deny the downward departu