Opinion ID: 779673
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Standard of Review and Statutory Background

Text: 13 The first task in evaluating Leachman's Apprendi claim is to specify the proper standard of review. Leachman claims the judge erred as a matter of law in imposing his sentence. However, Leachman never raised his objection with the district court. Accordingly, we review this issue for plain error only. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b); see also U.S. v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002); Johnson v. U.S., 520 U.S. 461, 466-67, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997); U.S. v. Graham, 275 F.3d 490, 521 (6th Cir.2001). There is plain error only if there is an error that is plain, and it also affects the substantial rights of the defendant. Even so, we will act on the error only if it seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings. See Cotton, 535 U.S. at ___, 122 S.Ct. at 1786. 14 Leachman was charged under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846, and sentenced under those statutes' penalty provision, 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A), which provides: 15 In the case of a violation of subsection (a) of this section involving 1000 kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of marijuana, or 1000 or more marijuana plants regardless of weight ... such person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment which may not be less than ten years or more than life.... 16 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(vii) (emphasis added). 5 17 Under the plain language of the statute, the 1366 plants with which Leachman was charged places him in the ten-year mandatory minimum range. At sentencing, in accordance with Leachman's plea, the judge found the amount of drugs by a preponderance of the evidence. Section 841(b)(1)(A) provides the maximum penalty for infractions involving 1000 or more marijuana plants is life imprisonment. Therefore, having found the threshold amount, the judge had a range of ten years to life within which he could sentence Leachman. The judge exercised his discretion and sentenced Leachman only to the minimum ten years. 18 Leachman alleges that the judge erred, under Apprendi, in calculating his mandatory minimum sentence because the judge impermissibly considered an amount of drugs never proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Leachman relies on the precedent of this Court and reads Apprendi and its progeny as declaring an absolute ban on enhancing a defendant's mandatory minimum sentence based on facts proved only by a preponderance of the evidence. Accordingly, he has extended Apprendi beyond enhancements of the statutory maximum to enhancements of the statutory minimum as well.