Opinion ID: 1452969
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Re-sentencing in light of Booker

Text: The jury found Garcia guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. The jury's verdict, combined with Garcia's prior drug conviction, yielded a statutory range of 20 years to life. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A). At the sentencing hearing the district court found by a preponderance of the evidence that Garcia's trafficking in cocaine was relevant conduct for purposes of this conspiracy and included various quantities of cocaine when calculating the base offense level of 38. The district court next determined that Garcia was a manager or supervisor of the conspiracy and imposed a three-level adjustment for his major role in the offense, resulting in an offense level of 41. Given his classification in Criminal History Category IV, the sentencing range was 360 months to life in prison, and the district court imposed a sentence of 360 months' imprisonment, the lowest sentence in that range. In United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 243-44, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), the Supreme Court held that the mandatory federal sentencing guidelines violated the Sixth Amendment by requiring judges to enhance the sentences of defendants based on facts not found by a jury or admitted by the defendant. To remedy this problem, the Court excised from the Sentencing Act the provisions making the guidelines mandatory. Id. at 245, 125 S.Ct. 738. Booker' s holding is to be applied to all cases on direct review according to ordinary prudential doctrines, such as plain error review, to determine if re-sentencing is warranted. Id. at 268, 125 S.Ct. 738. Garcia was sentenced in violation of the Sixth Amendment because, pursuant to the mandatory federal sentencing guidelines in place at the time, the district court enhanced his offense level based on the court's findings by a preponderance of the evidence that (1) his trafficking in cocaine was part of the relevant conduct involved in this conspiracy, see U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 (2001); and (2) he played a supervisory role in the criminal enterprise, see U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(b) (2001). Because Garcia failed to make a Sixth Amendment objection at sentencing, we conduct plain error review to determine if he must be re-sentenced. See United States v. Sanders, 404 F.3d 980, 987-88 (6th Cir.2005) (applying plain error review because the defendant raised his Booker challenge for the first time on appeal). Under that test, there must be (1) error, (2) that is plain, (3) and that affects substantial rights. United States v. Oliver, 397 F.3d 369, 378 (6th Cir.2005). Provided that these three conditions are satisfied, an appellate court may then exercise its discretion to notice the forfeited error if (4) the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. Garcia's sentence in violation of the Sixth Amendment constitutes error that is plain, see id. at 378-79; affects Garcia's substantial rights, see id. at 379-80; and diminishes the integrity and reputation of the judicial system, see id. at 380. Accordingly, we remand to the district court for re-sentencing under the now-advisory sentencing guidelines.