Opinion ID: 700502
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sentencing Based on D-Methamphetamine

Text: 43 The Sentencing Guidelines treat the manufacture of D-Methamphetamine more harshly than they treat the manufacture of L-Methamphetamine. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1 drug equivalency table. Ely testified at the sentencing hearing that the evidence taken from the shed indicated a methamphetamine production process that could only result in the production of D-Methamphetamine. Basinger argues that despite this evidence, the rule of lenity requires sentencing based on L-Methamphetamine. The rule of lenity does not apply unless a statute is grievously ambiguous. United States v. Crowell, 9 F.3d 1452, 1455 (9th Cir.1993) (citing Chapman v. United States, 500 U.S. 453, 463, 111 S.Ct. 1919, 1926, 114 L.Ed.2d 524 (1991)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 120, 130 L.Ed.2d 66 (1994). Section 2D1.1 is not. Crowell, 9 F.3d at 1455. Therefore, the district court properly calculated Basinger's sentence based on its estimate of 453 to 680 grams of D-Methamphetamine.