Opinion ID: 3063986
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Cruz-Acosta

Text: Cruz-Acosta was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment. On appeal, he contends that the district court erred in denying him a minor-role reduction, as the 14 court appeared to have concluded that, in “boat cases,” a defendant is precluded as a matter of law from receiving this reduction, and the court considered only the offense itself, without taking into account Cruz-Acosta’s actual role in it. He also argues that his sentence was procedurally unreasonable because the district court considered only the quantity of drugs that he transported in determining that he was not eligible for a minor-role reduction.
Because the record demonstrates that Cruz-Acosta’s role in the offense was identical to his relevant conduct, and he failed to show that he was less culpable than the other crew members in the relevant conduct of transporting the cocaine, we conclude that the district court did not plainly err by finding that he did not qualify for a two-level minor-role reduction.
Because the record demonstrates that the district court correctly calculated the advisory guideline range and considered the factors enumerated in § 3553(a), and Cruz-Acosta’s sentence was at the bottom of the guideline range, we conclude that the district court imposed a procedurally and substantively reasonable sentence. Accordingly, we affirm Cruz-Acosta’s sentence.