Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Gregory Mark NAIRN, Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2003-09-26
Citations: 76 F. App'x 114
Docket Number: No. 03-1683
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Gregory Mark NAIRN, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 76
Pages: 114–115

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Gregory Mark NAIRN, Appellant.
No. 03-1683.
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Submitted Sept. 19, 2003.
Decided Sept. 26, 2003.
Kevin C. Fletcher, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Sioux City, IA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Gregory Mark Nairn, Dewey P. Sloan, Jr., Le Mars, IA, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before RILEY, HANSEN, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Gregory Mark Nairn (Nairn) appeals the sentence the district court imposed after he pled guilty to conspiring to manufacture and distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine (actual), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 & 846 (2000) (Count 1); possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) (Count 2); and being a drug user in possession of firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) (Count 3). The court sentenced him to concurrent prison terms of 120 months (the statutory minimum) on Count 1 and 24 months on Count 3, and a mandatory consecutive 60-month term on Count 2, plus 5 years supervised release.
On appeal, for the first time, Nairn argues the district court erred in not applying a mitigating-role reduction, given his lesser role in the conspiracy offense and the government's failure to offer a departure motion despite his cooperation. After careful review of the record, we conclude the district court did not plainly err in sentencing Nairn: the court was without authority to sentence him below the statutory minimum absent a motion by the government, the government was under no obligation to file a substantial-assistance departure motion, and Nairn made no showing the government's decision not to file a departure motion was motivated by anything other than its belief he had not been truthful. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e); United States v. Wolf, 270 F.3d 1188, 1189-92 (8th Cir.2001); United States v. Montanye, 996 F.2d 190, 192 (8th Cir.1993) (en banc) (standard of review).
Accordingly, we affirm.
. The Honorable Mark W. Bennett, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.