Opinion ID: 784866
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Denial of Downward Adjustment (Gonzalez-Ayala, de León Maysonet)

Text: 219 Gonzalez-Ayala and de León Maysonet argue that the district court committed an error of law when it refused to grant them a downward adjustment based on their roles as minor participants in the conspiracy. They argue in their brief that the district court failed to realize that the guidelines permitted the sentencing court to decrease defendants' sentencing level based on the fact that the appellants' level of participation was below that of the other defendants. Mistakes of law in applying the Sentencing Guidelines are reviewed de novo. United States v. Cali, 87 F.3d 571, 575 (1st Cir.1996). The district court made no mistake of law. 220 The district court correctly determined that these defendants were not entitled to a minor-role adjustment merely because they were the least culpable among those who were actually indicted. See United States v. Daniel, 962 F.2d 100, 103 (1st Cir.1992). The relevant inquiry is whether the defendant played a part that made him substantially less culpable than the average participant in similar crimes. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 cmt. 3; United States v. Brandon, 17 F.3d 409, 460 (1st Cir.1994). 221 Absent a mistake of law, we review the district court's fact-based determination that a defendant was not a minor participant for clear error. United States v. Rosario-Peralta, 199 F.3d 552, 571 (1st Cir.1999). The court's determination was not clearly erroneous. The government presented testimony at trial that de León Maysonet stored weapons and narcotics for the conspiracy in 1992, stood as an armed guard at drug points in 1993, and packaged and sold narcotics at the Callejón Nueve point in 1993. The government also presented evidence at trial that he participated in an unsuccessful mission to Fajardo to find and kill an individual named Vitito, who had been hired to kill those responsible for stealing the 200 kilograms of cocaine. The evidence is sufficient to support the district court's finding that de León Maysonet was not a minor participant, based on his two-year involvement and his participation in a variety of criminal activities in support of the conspiracy. As to Gonzalez-Ayala, government witnesses Negrón-Maldonado and Torrens-Alicea testified at trial that he participated in the planning and execution of the theft of 200 kilograms of cocaine in Fajardo and that he received profits from the sale of that cocaine. They also testified that he helped package heroin and cocaine for distribution at the Callejón Nueve point. The record supports the district court's conclusion, based on the quantity of drugs he helped obtain for the conspiracy and his ongoing role in the packaging and sale of those drugs, that Gonzalez-Ayala was not a minor participant. 222