Opinion ID: 2979142
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Michael’s Sentencing

Text: When sentencing Michael, the district court imposed a two level enhancement, pursuant to § 3C1.1 because it found that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that Michael had repeatedly perjured himself during trial. Michael does not challenge the right of the district court to impose an enhancement for obstruction of justice in the case of perjury, but merely argues that the facts do not support a finding of perjury. As the district court noted, however, the crime for which Michael was convicted carried a statutory minimum sentence that was greater than the upper limit of the 17 08-5913/5929, USA v. Smith guidelines range even with the enhancement included. Therefore, even if the district court erred in imposing the enhancement, it was harmless error and we need not consider Michael’s arguments regarding the enhancement. Even if we were to consider the merits of Michael’s arguments, however, we would still uphold his sentence because it is clear that the district court did not err in imposing the sentencing enhancement. We review the district court’s factual findings relating to the application of § 3C1.1 for clear error. United States v. Zajac, 62 F.3d 145, 148 (6th Cir. 1995). The district court concluded that Michael had perjured himself by testifying that he had been involved selling drugs for only a couple of months, rather than approximately a year; by testifying that he had only dealt with an individual named Hoss Crawford, rather than the remaining members of the conspiracy; by testifying that a scale seized at his residence was used only for weighing tomatoes, rather than drugs; and by testifying that the seven pounds of marijuana seized at his residence was only for his personal use, as he had sufficient supply for 56 months of typical use by a single user. There is sufficient evidence to support the district court’s conclusions regarding Michael’s false testimony, and its decision to impose the obstruction of justice enhancement was not clearly erroneous.