Opinion ID: 3064941
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: George’s Challenges to His Sentence

Text: Only George contests the sentence that he received. George claims that, in imposing his 170-month sentence, the district court improperly calculated the Guidelines range by denying him safety valve relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), and improperly considered the sentencing factors of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The Guidelines prescribe a two-level reduction UNITED STATES v. NOBARI 9681 under safety valve relief for a defendant who meets the five criteria specified in § 5C1.2(a). See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(9) (2006). The government does not dispute that George met the first and third criteria. See id. § 5C1.2(a)(1), (a)(3). The district court held, however, that George failed to meet the fourth safety valve criterion, which requires that the defendant “was not an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor of others in the offense . . . and was not engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise.” Id. § 5C1.2(a)(4). The contents of the transcripts involving George, in combination with other evidence in the record, convince us that the district court was justified in finding that George led his co-defendants in these offenses. The defense argues that George “was simply a conduit between the actual buyers and the government agents” because he had to seek approval from others for the quantity of pseudoephedrine to be purchased, the purchase price, and the location of the transaction. Yet George still orchestrated the transaction, even if the ultimate purchasers, for obvious business reasons, arguably had a major influence on how much pseudoephedrine George negotiated to purchase and at what price. The district court reasonably concluded, therefore, that George was in charge. [17] Because we hold that the district court did not clearly err in finding that George was a leader in the offenses and thus was ineligible for safety valve relief under the fourth criterion, id. § 5C1.2(a)(4), we need not consider the second and fifth criteria for relief, id. § 5C1.2(a)(2), (a)(5). On this basis, we uphold the district court’s denial of relief to George under § 5C1.2(a) of the Guidelines. [18] George also takes issue with the manner in which the district court considered the sentencing factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The transcript reveals, however, that the district court gave proper consideration to these factors. Even if we believed that another sentence were appropriate, we may not substitute our own judgment for the district court’s on 9682 UNITED STATES v. NOBARI these grounds. United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 993 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc). Accordingly, we affirm George’s 170month sentence.