Opinion ID: 204000
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Basing Bucci's sentence on the amount of drugs found by the district court

Text: Bucci contends that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial by basing his sentence on the court's factual finding, made by a preponderance of the evidence, that Bucci was responsible for 2,900 kilograms of marijuana. [8] Because Bucci did not raise this argument in the district court, we review for plain error. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b); see also Puckett v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1423, 1428-29, 173 L.Ed.2d 266 (2009). Here, we find no error. The jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that Bucci participated in a conspiracy involving more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. That finding established both the statutory mandatory minimum sentence Bucci faced on his drug-trafficking conspiracy conviction and the maximum penalty the district court may impose. United States v. Santiago, 560 F.3d 62, 67 (1st Cir.2009), petition for cert. filed, (U.S. June 6, 2009) (No. 08-10809). But in calculating Bucci's offense level under the sentencing guidelines, the court properly found by a preponderance of the evidence that Bucci's offenses and his related conduct actually involved 2,900 kilograms of marijuana. See United States v. Cruz-Rodriguez, 541 F.3d 19, 32 (1st Cir.2008), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1017, 1023, 173 L.Ed.2d 306 (2009). Under United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), Sixth Amendment error does not occur because the district judge found facts, by a preponderance of the evidence, that increased the defendant's sentence beyond that authorized by the jury's verdict; rather, Sixth Amendment error occurs when the district court does so while treating the sentencing guidelines as mandatory rather than advisory. See United States v. Luciano, 414 F.3d 174, 179 (1st Cir.2005). And that did not happen here.