Opinion ID: 615992
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sentencing and The First Appeal

Text: As it sentenced Barnes and Taylor's four co-conspirators, the district court found that the conspiracy involved five-to-fifteen kilograms of cocaine. It, thus, calculated their base offense levels at 32.
The initial pre-sentence report for Barnes similarly recommended a base offense level of 32, treating the conspiracy as involving five-to-fifteen kilograms of drugs. However, the probation officer revised the pre-sentence report to reflect a drug quantity of forty kilograms. Barnes objected to this quantity. The district court ordered further briefing on the drug amount, but, rather than file additional materials, Barnes and the government stipulated that the conspiracy involved five-to-fifteen kilograms. At sentencing, the district court rejected this stipulation and found that the conspiracy involved forty kilograms of cocaine. This finding raised Barnes' base offense level to 34. The district court refused to accept the stipulation because it viewed itself as unconstrained by the factual findings in the co-conspirators' sentencing proceedings. It wished to issue an independent finding on the quantity of drugs for which Barnes was responsible. Yet, the district court also chose to sentence Barnes at the low end of his Guideline range because, it reasoned, there was no reason to treat him differently than his co-conspirators with regard to the amount of drugs involved. Once his enhancements were considered, the court sentenced Barnes to 292 months. Barnes appealed, contesting the district court's finding that, for him, the conspiracy involved forty kilograms of cocaine and not five-to-fifteen kilograms. This Court agreed that such unjustified, disparate treatment among co-conspirators was clear error. We vacated Barnes' sentence and remanded to the district court for re-sentencing.
Taylor's pre-sentence report recommended that the conspiracy involved forty kilograms of cocaine. Taylor objected to this amount and suggested that the conspiracy involved five-to-fifteen kilograms. At sentencing, the district court overruled Taylor's objection and found that the amount of cocaine involved was forty kilograms. It, therefore, calculated his base offense level as 34. Enhancements raised his base offense level to 36, resulting in an advisory Guideline range of 188 to 235 months of incarceration. To minimize potentially unequal treatment of the co-conspirators based upon drug quantity, the district court sentenced Taylor to the low end of his Guideline range. He received a 188-month sentence. Taylor appealed, alleging that the district court committed clear error when it determined that the amount of cocaine attributable to the conspiracy was forty kilograms. This Court agreed, again viewing as unacceptable the inconsistent factual finding on the amount of drugs involved. As we did in Barnes' case, we vacated Taylor's conviction and remanded his case for re-sentencing.