Opinion ID: 196037
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Bouthot

Text: 14 On February 18, 1994, Bouthot pled guilty to conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841, 846. On July 1, 1994, after a one-day hearing, Bouthot was sentenced to 151 months' imprisonment. The district court found that Bouthot was responsible for 3.83 kilograms of cocaine, resulting in a base offense level of 30. The court also added two levels for Bouthot's supervisory role in the drug ring, and declined to make a downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility. U.S.S.G. Secs. 3B1.1, 3E1.1. With a total offense level of 32 and a criminal history category of III, the guideline sentencing range was 151 to 188 months, and the court chose the minimum. 15 The district court based the drug quantity on the testimony of Webster at Bouthot's sentencing hearing. Webster said that he provided Bouthot with one to three ounces of cocaine three times a month for 14 months, and made seven trips to New York with Bouthot to buy cocaine, each trip yielding six to twelve ounces of cocaine but with one trip netting a half kilogram. Using middle-to-low figures for the drug amounts, and adjusting for possible double counting for drugs from the New York trips subsequently given to Bouthot, the district court calculated that Bouthot was responsible for 3.83 kilograms. 16 Bouthot claims that Webster's testimony was an unreliable basis for establishing drug quantity. It is true that under U.S.S.G. Sec. 6A1.3(a) information used for sentencing must have sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy. See United States v. Tavano, 12 F.3d 301 (1st Cir.1993). Bouthot cites to a number of inconsistencies with Webster's previous accounts and points out that Webster was an admitted perjurer, a drug user, and a turncoat who received a substantially reduced sentence for implicating others. 17 Credibility assessments at sentencing are the province of the district court and are respected on appeal unless clearly erroneous. United States v. Olivier-Diaz, 13 F.3d 1, 4 (1st Cir.1993). True, Webster was a witness to be approached with caution; indeed, he had twice perjured himself in earlier proceedings before the district court. But these lies occurred before Webster had agreed to cooperate with the government. The district court was free to conclude that, once the game was up, Webster had wisely chosen to cooperate fully and truthfully with the government in the hope of receiving a lightened sentence. 18 Bouthot next argues that, even assuming the reliability of Webster's testimony, the mean per transaction figures used by the district court as multipliers lacked adequate evidentiary support; the court settled on two ounces as the per transaction amount for Bouthot's regular supply and eight ounces as the per trip amount for six of the seven New York trips. Webster had testified unequivocally that he gave Bouthot one to three ounces three times a month and that they purchased six to twelve ounces on their typical New York trip. Bouthot did not object to the district court's method of drug computation at the time of sentencing and therefore has waived this issue. United States v. Uricoechea-Casallas, 946 F.2d 162, 166 (1st Cir.1991). In any event, we review the district court's drug quantity determinations for clear error, United States v. Morillo, 8 F.3d 864, 871 (1st Cir.1993), and find no such error here. Where no drugs have been seized, the guidelines instruct the district court to approximate the amounts involved, U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1 comment. (n. 12), and we uphold such an approximation as long as it represents a reasoned estimate of quantity. Morillo, 8 F.3d at 871. 19 In this case, the figures chosen by the district court were the mean figure for the small buys and on the conservative side for the New York trips, and they were drawn from ranges with relatively tight margins. This case is quite unlike United States v. Sepulveda, 15 F.3d 1161, 1197 (1st Cir.1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 2714, 129 L.Ed.2d 840 (1994), where we found it error to use the midpoint between four ounces and one kilogram as the average transaction. All in all, we think that the figures chosen by the district court in this case represent a defensible estimate of drug quantity based on the available evidence, and this is all that is required. Morillo, 8 F.3d at 871. See also United States v. Innamorati, 996 F.2d 456, 490-91 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 114 S.Ct. 409, 126 L.Ed.2d 356 (1993). 20 Bouthot also says that the district court erred in failing to award him a two-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility. Bouthot did plead guilty to the drug charge but a plea of guilty is not a guarantee for receiving the reduction. United States v. Bradley, 917 F.2d 601, 606 (1st Cir.1990). The district court found that Bouthot had understated his criminal involvement. This in turn warranted a finding that Bouthot had not fully accepted responsibility. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1 comment. (n. 1). 21 The two-level adjustment for Bouthot's role in the offense is also supported. Webster and a DEA agent both testified that Bouthot had recruited an individual named Conwell to sell small amounts of cocaine for him, paying Conwell a fixed commission on every sale and providing him with housing from which to operate. This testimony, accepted by the district court, is more than enough to qualify Bouthot for a two-point adjustment for exercising a leadership or supervisory role in the offense. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 3B1.1 comment. (n. 4). United States v. Fuller, 897 F.2d 1217, 1219-22 (1st Cir.1990).