Opinion ID: 203687
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Rivera's Appeal

Text: Based on the presentence report calculations and evidence heard at the sentencing hearing, the district court found that Rivera's drug offenses involved more than 30 kilograms of heroin, which converted to 30,000 kilograms of marijuana. As a result, the applicable base offense level was determined to be 38. A four-level enhancement was added because of Rivera's leadership role in the offenses, resulting in a total offense level of 42. The court also found a criminal history category of VI. Rivera was sentenced to life in prison on Count One of Criminal Case No. 02-391. In Criminal Case No. 03-284, Rivera was sentenced to life in prison on Counts One and Three and to terms of 40 years on Count Two, 60 months on Count Four, and 120 months on Count Six, all such terms to run concurrently. In addition, he was sentenced to a term of 60 months for his conviction on Count Five in Criminal Case No. 03-284, which was to be served consecutively to his other sentences in Criminal Case No. 03-284. Rivera argues that his sentences were not reasonable, that the drug quantity determination was erroneous, and that the court erred in imposing a four-point adjustment based on his role in the drug operations. We begin by considering Rivera's claims of procedural irregularity before addressing the reasonableness of his sentence.
At the sentencing hearing, the district court explained that a government witness, Rivera-Rubero, testified at trial that he supplied Rivera, for his drug point in Ponce, with two or three eighths of a kilogram of heroin weekly for the time after Rivera left prison in September of 1999 until Rivera-Rubero went to jail in January of 2002. The district court determined that period included 29 months or 116 weeks. Taking the lesser amount, two eighths of a kilogram of heroin per week, the district court calculated that Rivera's drug transactions as part of the Conejos conspiracy involved 29 kilograms of heroin. The court added the 1.260 kilograms of heroin found in the Cataño apartment, which brought the total over 30 kilograms of heroin. Based on Sentencing Guideline § 2D1.1(a)(3), which refers to the Drug Quantity Table at subsection (c), 30 kilograms or more of heroin results in a base offense level of 38. Rivera argued at the sentencing hearing and argues on appeal that Rivera-Rubero did not supply heroin to him as regularly as the court found because Rivera had other suppliers. As the district court stated at the sentencing hearing, Rivera-Rubero's testimony established that Rivera was buying two to three eighths of a kilogram of heroin every week during the period between the end of September of 1999 to January of 2002, although his suppliers were not always the same. Therefore, Rivera's argument that Rivera-Rubero, himself, did not always supply heroin to Rivera does not change the drug quantity calculation. The district court's factual findings as to drug quantity are reviewed for clear error. Sanchez-Badillo, 540 F.3d at 34. The district court did not add drug quantities pertaining to the time Rivera was in prison, as Rivera mistakenly asserts. Instead, the court explicitly considered only the period of the conspiracy from the end of September of 1999 until January of 2002. Further, the drug quantity was calculated using the lesser amount indicated by the testimony and without considering the other drugs Rivera sold or possessed. The district court's drug quantity calculation was conservative and well-supported by the evidence at trial. Therefore the drug quantity finding is not clearly erroneous.
Under Sentencing Guidelines § 3B1.1(a), a defendant's base offense level is raised by four levels if he was an organizer or leader of criminal activity that involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive. The Guidelines provide a nonexclusive list of factors to guide the determination of whether a defendant held a leadership or organizational role. United States v. Ziskind, 491 F.3d 10, 17 (1st Cir.2007), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 1305, 170 L.Ed.2d 124 (2008). We review a district court's decision to impose an enhancement for clear error. Id. Rivera argues that he was not the main organizer or leader of the Conejos conspiracy, particularly because he was in prison from 1995 to 1999. Instead, he contends, his brother, Richard, was in charge of their drug points. Rivera also contends that he did not have five or more subordinates whom he directed or supervised. In determining a defendant's role in the criminal activity, the court considers, among other things, the exercise of decision making authority, the nature of participation in the commission of the offense, the recruitment of accomplices, the claimed right to a larger share of the fruits of the crime, the degree of participation in planning or organizing the offense, the nature and scope of the illegal activity, and the degree of control and authority exercised over others. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, cmt. 4; see also United States v. Yelaun, 541 F.3d 415, 421 (1st Cir.2008). Witnesses testified that Rivera and his brother, Piolo, owned and operated a drug point selling cocaine and heroin in the Conejos organization after Rivera was released from prison in 1999. [11] As the district court found, testimony at trial established that more than five co-conspirators were involved with Rivera at the Conejos drug point. The witnesses' testimony established that Rivera made the decisions as to which drug suppliers he would use for the drug point. Evidence shows that Rivera ran the drug point and sold drugs from it. Even if Rivera were subordinate to Richard in the hierarchy of the conspiracy, that would not negate Rivera's leadership role. See United States v. Arango, 508 F.3d 34, 49 (1st Cir.2007), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 1101, 169 L.Ed.2d 834 & ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 1904, 170 L.Ed.2d 769 (2008); United States v. Ventura, 353 F.3d 84, 89 (1st Cir.2003). The evidence supports the district court's finding that Rivera had a leadership role in a criminal activity that involved five or more participants.
Rivera contends that the presentence report and the district court treated the Sentencing Guidelines as if they were mandatory and ignored the factors provided by § 3553(a), resulting in an unreasonable sentence. In particular, Rivera argues that his life sentence was greater than necessary, that the court failed to consider his particular characteristics and history, and that the four-level enhancement he received for his role in the conspiracy is unreasonable because other co-conspirators, including his brother Richard, received only a three-level enhancement. We review a sentence for procedural error, including the district court's application of § 3553(a), and then consider a challenge to the substantive reasonableness of a sentence, both of which are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Rodriguez, 527 F.3d at 224. In considering objections to a sentence's substantive reasonableness, we examine the district court's contemporaneous oral explanation of the sentence, its near-contemporaneous written statement of reasons, and what fairly can be gleaned by comparing what was argued by the parties or proffered in the PSI Report with what the sentencing court ultimately did. United States v. Martin, 520 F.3d 87, 93 (1st Cir.2008). Section 3553(a)(6) directs a sentencing court to consider the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct. A consideration of sentencing disparities under that section, however, aims primarily at the minimization of disparities among defendants nationally. Martin, 520 F.3d at 94. In addition, as the district court noted, Richard and the other co-conspirators pled guilty, pursuant to plea agreements that addressed their roles under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1. Given the material difference between the defendants who pled guilty pursuant to plea agreements and Rivera who did not, no disparity in sentencing occurred in this case that would amount to an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Brandao, 539 F.3d 44, 65 (1st Cir.2008). Rivera's counsel argued at the sentencing hearing that because of Rivera's young age and a corrupt system that encouraged illegal drug activity in Ponce, the court should not sentence Rivera to life in prison. Counsel also argued that Rivera was a fugitive before he was arrested in September of 2003 based on the advice of his former counsel. Counsel acknowledged that Rivera's life had been one of crime for many years and that he had been in jail most of his adult life, but she blamed corruption in the system for making him a criminal and perpetuating his life of crime. After explaining the total offense level, the criminal history category, and the applicable guideline range of 360 months to life in prison, the district court stated that the Sentencing Guidelines were advisory. The court recited the sentencing considerations provided by § 3553(a). With reference to the presentence report, which had been addressed extensively during the sentencing hearing, the court discussed Rivera's activities in light of the § 3553(a) considerations. The court found that although Rivera was young, he had an extensive history of recidivism, involving both violent crimes and drug crimes. As a result, the court concluded that a life sentence, the high end of the advisory guideline range, was appropriate. The record shows that the district court considered the § 3553(a) factors and imposed a reasonable sentence after considering Rivera's particular circumstances. The court did not abuse is discretion.