Opinion ID: 551861
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Upward Adjustments of the Offense Level

Text: 15 A. Section 3B1.1(c) Enhancement for Role in Offense. The district court enhanced Mr. Rodriguez-Nuez's Offense Level by two, based on its finding that the defendant was a supervisor under Sec. 3B1.1(c). 16 The cocaine which was the subject of the offense of conviction was located at 5927 West Greenfield. Defendant was in control of those premises. One element of the offense was an intent to distribute the cocaine. In the past, defendant had removed quantities of cocaine and distributions had been made through Vincent Quiroz, at the duplex forty-seven blocks to the east, and presumably the same would be true of the distributions which defendant admitted he intended to make of the cocaine seized. There was an adequate basis for the district court's finding that the defendant supervised Vincent Quiroz, but the information before the court showed only that Mr. Quiroz had been a participant in distribution of cocaine at the duplex, and it could be inferred that he would be a participant in the contemplated distribution of the cocaine seized. The problem is that there was no information showing that he was a participant in the possession of the cocaine at 5927 West Greenfield. 17 Under these facts, can defendant's supervision of Mr. Quiroz in the past and contemplated distributions at the duplex be a predicate for a Sec. 3B1.1(c) enhancement of defendant's sentence for the offense of possession with intent to distribute when there is nothing to show Quiroz was a participant in that offense? 18 A recent decision of this court requires an answer in the negative. United States v. Tetzlaff, 896 F.2d 1071 (7th Cir.1990). There also defendant was convicted of possession with intent to distribute and no other person was shown to have been a participant in that possession. We said: 19 The problem with the sentence imposed by the district court is that it applied Guidelines Sec. 3B1.1(c) to a defendant who was convicted of the Count V offense that only involved himself. Guidelines Sec. 3B1.1(c) requires the sentencing judge to look at the defendant's role in the offense  of conviction, here Count V, not his role in any relevant aggravating conduct in which he may have engaged. 20