Opinion ID: 202000
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pho.

Text: 14 On January 11, 2005, law enforcement officers searched a house occupied by defendant Sambath Pho pursuant to a warrant. They found 16.73 grams of crack cocaine together with drug-processing supplies, cash, and firearms. On June 10, 2004, Pho entered a guilty plea to a one-count information charging possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a). That offense carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. See id. § 841(b)(1)(B). 15 A probation officer subsequently compiled the PSI Report. After converting the confiscated cash into its drug equivalent, see United States v. Gerante, 891 F.2d 364, 368-70 (1st Cir.1989) (explicating the provision now found at USSG § 2D1.1, cmt. n. 12), the PSI Report concluded that Pho should be held responsible for 40.43 grams of cocaine base. That yielded a base offense level of 30. A two-level gun enhancement, USSG § 2D1.1(b)(1), and a three-level discount for acceptance of responsibility, id. § 3E1.1, brought the adjusted offense level to 29. Given the absence of any meaningful prior criminal record, Pho's GSR was 87-108 months. 16 At the disposition hearing, the district court confirmed the adjusted offense level proposed in the PSI Report over Pho's contention that the conversion of cash was inappropriate in this instance. The court then discussed its understanding of the controlling law in a post- Booker world: 17 The question now is whether [the GSR] is a reasonable sentence. . . . The guidelines are no longer mandatory since Booker. The law now is that the Court impose a sentence that is reasonable whether it's in the guideline range or not, and what we're talking about is whether the guidelines produce a reasonable sentence. It is the law that the Court has to impose whatever mandatory minimum may have been prescribed by Congress, and [t]he Court cannot exceed any statutory maximum that's been prescribed by Congress. But beyond that, [the guidelines are] not the law. 18 After rejecting Pho's plea that his prior military service justified a lower sentence, the court described  the only real remaining question  as this recurring question of . . . [w]hether it is fair and reasonable in calculating a sentence to consider crack cocaine as 100 times more serious than cocaine powder. (Emphasis supplied). 19 In the court's estimation, the 100:1 ratio was excessive and not reasonable. The court explained that it had consistently taken the position that the Commission's recommendation [of a 20:1 ratio] makes sense and declared that, except for the 100:1 ratio, it had no quarrel with the guideline range . . . because the guidelines take into account all the relevant factors and otherwise take an approach that is reasonable. 20 Based on its conclusion about the inherent unfairness of the 100:1 ratio, the court recalculated Pho's sentencing range in accordance with the 20:1 ratio. This approach produced a jerry-built sentencing range of 57-71 months. The court then reiterated: 21 I'm not saying that's the guideline range. The guideline range is 87 to 108 months. What I'm saying is that in order to arrive at what I would consider to be a fair and reasonable sentence that complies with the statutory criteria . . . it seems to me that it's more reasonable to use a 20 to 1 ratio, and that's how I come up with 57 to 71 months. 22 The court proceeded to impose an incarcerative sentence in the middle of the reconstituted range (64 months). The government filed a timely appeal. See 18 U.S.C. § 3742(b).