Opinion ID: 785028
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Emezuo's Written Statement

Text: 12 Our analysis begins with the government's critical first contention: that the written statement, intended as a proffer, was not truthful and complete. Upon review of the statement, we conclude on the basis of the record and the district court's findings at sentencing that it was not an entirely truthful proffer. Emezuo therefore cannot show that he would have been entitled to the safety valve adjustment even if the written statement had been proffered to the government, so he is not entitled to relief under § 2255. 13 The safety valve provision was enacted by Congress in order to benefit defendants who wished to cooperate with the government but, because they were less culpable, or because their more culpable colleagues had already cut deals with the authorities, they did not have new or useful information to provide. United States v. Arrington, 73 F.3d 144, 148 (7th Cir. 1996). Thus, in order to qualify for the two point safety valve reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(6), a defendant must meet the five criteria set out in U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2(a): 14 (1) The defendant does not have more than 1 criminal history point, as determined under the sentencing guidelines; (2) The defendant did not use violence or credible threats of violence or possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon (or induce another participant to do so) in connection with the offense; 15 (3) The offense did not result in death or serious bodily injury to any person; 16 (4) The defendant was not an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor of others in the offense, as determined under the sentencing guidelines and was not engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise, as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 848; and 17 (5) Not later than the time of the sentencing hearing, the defendant has truthfully provided to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme or plan, but the fact that the defendant has no relevant or useful other information to provide or that the Government is already aware of the information shall not preclude a determination by the court that the defendant has complied with this requirement. 18 Though it is undisputed that Emezuo met the first four criteria, his trial counsel did not ensure that Emezuo's information was proffered to the government prior to sentencing. (Sentc'g Recomm. at 2.) It is Emezuo's burden to prove that he would have been eligible for the safety valve reduction if the proffer had been correctly made. United States v. Martinez, 301 F.3d 860, 866 (7th Cir.2002). 19 The government claims that Emezuo's written statement would have fallen far short of being a complete and truthful account of his role, (Gov't Br. at 27), but under these circumstances, the statement's truthfulness is more significant than the statement's completeness. Emezuo indicated at his sentencing hearing that he had been willing to talk to the prosecutor, (Sentc'g Tr. at 16), 5 and he contends on appeal that his trial counsel's ineffectiveness also encompassed the failure to indicate this willingness. We have previously held that a truthful written statement combined with an indication to the government of willingness to submit to a safety valve interview satisfied the safety valve disclosure requirement, because the government cannot complain of incompleteness if it refuses to allow the defendant to finish telling his story. United States v. Brack, 188 F.3d 748, 763 (7th Cir.1999). Thus, the truthfulness of Emezuo's written statement (and any additional information provided in the follow-up interview) is the key issue: if Emezuo's proffer was not truthful, his counsel's failure to ensure that it be provided to the government was clearly harmless. 20 The resolution of this key issue hinges on a single point in dispute: whether, as Emezuo contends, he was initially duped into assisting Titi, or whether, as the government contends, he must have known all along that she was smuggling heroin because he had previously been involved with dealing drugs with a different source. 6 (Pld'g Tr. at 71.) In determining that 8 kilograms of heroin smuggled into the United States by the conspiracy in late 1993 were attributable to Emezuo, the probation officer had to evaluate the credibility of both of these claims, and she resolved this disputed fact in the government's favor. 7 On the other hand, she determined that Emezuo was not responsible for a two-kilo shipment of heroin in January 1994 that the government contended should be included. (PSR at 7-8.) This indicates that she was open to finding the government's version to be insufficiently supported by the evidence, and her rejection of Emezuo's version thus seems more plausible and not arbitrary. 21 In adopting the findings of the probation officer at sentencing, including the recommendation as to the amount of heroin for which Emezuo was responsible, the district court also implicitly accepted the government's argument that Emezuo was aware that Titi was smuggling heroin from the inception of his involvement with her. While it is possible that the district court may have decided this issue differently if it had been squarely presented for resolution via a safety valve proffer whose truthfulness was disputed by the government, we have previously held that the district court's findings of fact would easily withstand clear error review. Hamzat, 217 F.3d 494, 501. Thus, we cannot conclude that the record supports a finding that Emezuo's written statement was entirely truthful, and his trial counsel's failure to proffer this statement to the government was therefore harmless. We need not explore whether Emezuo's trial counsel's performance was deficient. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 697, 104 S.Ct. 2052.