Opinion ID: 727244
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Welch and the District Court's Refusal to Depart Downward for his Substantial Assistance

Text: 36 The parties agree that defendant Welch's adjusted offense level was 39; he had a criminal history of zero, placing him in Category 1, calling for a sentence of 262-327 months under the appropriate Sentencing Guidelines (the 1994 Guidelines). The government filed a motion for downward departure pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, which the District Court, in fact, granted, but Welch still received a sentence of 262 months. 37 While recognizing Welch's substantial assistance, the District Court also found that defendant's criminal history category did not reflect adequately the seriousness of past criminal conduct. Specifically, the District Court found by a preponderance of the evidence that Welch's use of firearms in his drug-dealing was accounted for inadequately in his criminal history as well as Welch's involvement in a brutal murder of a pregnant woman. Any benefit, therefore, from Welch's substantial assistance to the prosecution was offset by recognition of this sentencing factor. 38 When the District Court is aware of its discretion to depart from the guidelines, failure to do so is not appealable. United States v. Davis, 919 F.2d 1181, 1187 (6th Cir.1990). Welch does not argue, nor could he argue in good faith, that the District Court was unaware that it had the discretion to depart from the guideline sentence. His sentence, therefore, at the bottom of the guideline range (the District Court would have departed upward because of the criminal history issues had it not been for the government's 5K1.1 motion) is not appealable. 39