Source: http://cl.bna.com/cl/19990602/971512.htm
Timestamp: 2018-10-22 01:20:46
Document Index: 300450111

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2', '§ 922', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 991', '§ 944', '§ 3', '§ 3553', '§ 2', '§ 922', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2']

No. 97-1512
No. 96-00123--Richard A. Enslen, Chief District Judge.
Argued: October 6, 1998
Decided and Filed: May 21, 1999
Before: MERRITT and DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judges; NIXONSee footnote *, District Judge.
JOHN T. NIXON, District Judge. In this appeal, Defendant-Appellant, Cindy Hendrick, argues that the district court erroneously interpreted United States Sentencing Guideline § 2X2.1 to require that a defendant convicted of aiding and abetting in the commission of an offense be given the same base offense level as the principal offender. For the reasons expressed below, we reverse the judgment of the district court with respect to Ms. Hendrick's sentencing and direct that she be resentenced applying an offense level based on her criminal record and not the record of the principal offender.
Ms. Hendrick pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Western Division of Michigan to aiding and abetting a felon in possession of firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and § 2. In its pre-sentence report, the probation department recommended that the district court apply a base offense level of fourteen (14) to Ms. Hendrick. Although neither party objected to this recommendation, the district court concluded that Ms. Hendrick's proper base offense level was twenty-four (24) -- the base offense level applied to the principle offender.See footnote 1 The district court subsequently granted Ms. Hendrick a four-level downward departure and sentenced her to twenty-one (21) months in custody and three years supervised probation upon release.
Section 2(a) of Title 18, United States Code, provides: "Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aides, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal." According to United States Sentencing Guidelines, the offense level for a defendant who is convicted of aiding and abetting "is the same level as that for the underlying offense." U.S.S.G. § 2X2.1. Accordingly, the sentencing guideline applicable to Ms. Hendrick is U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1 -- Unlawful Receipt, Possession, or Transportation of Firearms or Ammunition; Prohibited Transactions Involving Firearms or Ammunition. That provision specifies, in pertinent part, that a defendant's base offense level should be twenty-four (24) if the defendant has been convicted of two or more prior felonies, and fourteen (14) if the defendant is classified only as a prohibited person.
The district court concluded that "for purposes of sentencing, Congress intended to treat principals and aiders and abettors as absolute equals. . . . Accordingly, [the court] find[s] that the defendant in this case must receive the same Base Offense Level that the principal had received, which is 24, and that's pursuant to 2K2.1(a)(2)."
Defendant-Appellant argues that U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(6) requires that the defendant be scored as a principal, not the principal. Thus, Ms. Hendrick's base offense level should have been based on her criminal record and not the record of the principal offender, Mr. Bennie Rich. Using Ms. Hendrick's criminal record, the highest offense level which the district court could have applied to her under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1 is fourteen (14) since Ms. Hendrick would qualify, at most, as a prohibited person.
In support of the district court's interpretation of the sentencing guidelines, Plaintiff-Appellee asserts that "[o]ur vast body of conspiracy law demonstrates that subjecting a person to criminal liability for the acts of others is not a unique concept; nor is there anything novel about punishing those 'minor participants' to the same degree as those who actually perform the criminal acts." Plaintiff-Appellee relies on Fourth Circuit authority for the proposition that Congress intended to treat principals and aiders and abettors equally. United States v. Pierson, 53 F.3d 62, 65 (4th Cir. 1995).
The United States Sentencing Commission is charged with developing sentencing guidelines for the purpose of providing certainty and fairness in the sentences imposed for violations of federal law. 28 U.S.C. § 991(b)(1)(B). To ensure such certainty and fairness, the guidelines provide courts with a range of appropriate sentences that consider both the nature of the crime committed and the characteristics of the offender. 28 U.S.C. § 944. Thus, the guidelines permit both downward and upward departures depending on the individual defendant's criminal record and the nature and extent of her or his role in the charged offense. U.S.S.G. §§ 3B1.1, 3B1.2. Sentencing courts even have the authority to depart entirely from the applicable guidelines if a particular case presents sufficient atypical features. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b).
The sentencing guideline applicable to a defendant convicted of aiding and abetting provides simply: "The offense level is the same level as that for the underlying offense." U.S.S.G. § 2X2.1. The underlying offense which Ms. Hendrick aided and abetted was the violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) -- illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. That statute applies to any person "who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment of a term exceeding one year." Id. The statute itself makes no distinction between a defendant with numerous felony convictions and a defendant with only a single felony conviction. Rather, a defendant's record becomes relevant only at the sentencing phase. Indeed, that is the purpose of U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1 -- to affix an appropriate base offense level to the individual defendant based on that individual defendant's criminal record.
The district court concluded that "the defendant in this case must receive the same Base Offense Level that the principal had received . . . ." That interpretation, however, is simply not supported by the plain language of U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1. Nothing in either U.S.S.G. § 2X2.1 or its commentary suggests that the defendant's base offense level must be the same as the principal's base offense level. In fact, the sentencing guideline makes no reference to the principal offender at all -- only to the underlying offense. This Court sees a clear distinction between basing an individual's offense level on the underlying offense and basing it on the offense level applied to the principal offender.
Furthermore, the Court notes that Plaintiff-Appellee has read too much into the Fourth Circuit's decision in Pierson. The Pierson Court was dealing with a statute that imposed a minimum mandatory sentence. 53 F.2d at 63. The question before the Fourth Circuit, therefore, was whether a defendant, convicted of aiding and abetting in the commission of a crime, was subject to the same mandatory minimum sentence as the principal offender. Id. at 66. When a defendant is convicted of aiding and abetting the commission of an offense which carries a minimum mandatory sentence and the principal offender is sentenced to that mandatory minimum, it logically follows that the defendant will receive the same sentence as the principal. We believe that is as far as the Pierson decision goes.
Footnote: * The Honorable John T. Nixon, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, sitting by designation.
Footnote: 1 The principle offender, Bennie Rich, pled guilty in a separate case to various drug and firearm charges, including being a felon in possession of derringers purchased by Ms. Hendrick. His base offense level was computed to be twenty-four (24) since he had more than two prior felony convictions for violent crimes or controlled substance offenses.