Opinion ID: 796361
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Judon's Role in the Offense

Text: 42 The district court also denied Judon's request for a two-level reduction for being a minor participant in the offense under § 3B 1.2 of the guidelines. We review a district court's decision on a request for a mitigating role reduction for clear error. United States v. Salazar, 454 F.3d 843, 848 (8th Cir.2006). A minor participant is one who is less culpable than most other participants, but whose role could not be described as minimal. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b) cmt. n. 5. It is the defendant's burden to show that he was a minor participant. See Salazar, 454 F.3d at 848. The propriety of a downward adjustment is determined by comparing the acts of each participant in relation to the relevant conduct for which the participant is held accountable and by measuring each participant's individual acts and relative culpability against the elements of the offense. Id. 43 In ruling on Judon's request, the district court noted its familiarity with the trial of the case and stated, The role [of Judon] was less than Mr. Ross but not substantially less in order to warrant a reduction for role in the offense. Transcript of Sentencing at 30. The testimony presented by the Government demonstrated that the Davises occasionally obtained drugs from Judon after being referred to him by Ross. On several occasions, Judon supplied drugs to the Davises when Ross had insufficient quantities. Though Ross may have been directly responsible for supplying more drugs, a fact accounted for by the district court's calculation of their base offense levels, Judon points to no evidence showing that he was less culpable than Ross in distributing the amounts of cocaine actually attributed to him. See Salazar, 454 F.3d at 848. The district court therefore did not clearly err in denying Judon's request for a mitigating role reduction.