Opinion ID: 704816
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Refusal to Downward Depart

Text: 31 Verdugo argues that the district court incorrectly believed that it could not grant a downward departure for his rehabilitation from alcohol. This belief, however, was not incorrect. This Court held in United States v. Martin that a defendant's post-arrest drug rehabilitation efforts afford no basis for downward departure from the guideline sentencing range. 938 F.2d 162, 164 (9th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 988 (1992). Although Verdugo began his rehabilitation prior to his arrest, the court in Martin, after considering policy statements by the Sentencing Commission, adopted the general proposition that dependence upon drugs, or separation from such a dependency, is not a proper basis for a downward departure from the guidelines. Id. (quoting United States v. Pharr, 916 F.2d 129, 133 (3d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 500 U.S. 959 (1991)). Accordingly, Verdugo's argument fails.