Opinion ID: 773283
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Denial of Mitigating Role Reduction

Text: 74 Salgado contends that he should have received an offense level reduction for mitigating role pursuant to U.S.S.G. §3B1.2(a) as a minimal participant. The government opposed such a reduction. In rejecting Salgado's claim that he was entitled to a mitigating role adjustment, the trial court found that the role here of Mr. Salgado in moving this quantity of cocaine up here from Florida for distribution up here is hardly minor in that...it does not make him less culpable than most other participants. The court stated, I don't think that Mr. Salgado could by any stretch be even referred to as a minor participant, much less a minimal participant. He is not in my view less culpable than most other participants. 75 Section 3B1.2 of the Sentencing Guidelines provides for a reduction in the base offense level of a defendant who played a mitigating role in the offense: Based on the defendant's role in the offense, decrease the offense level as follows: (a) If the defendant was a minimal participant in any criminal activity, decrease by 4 levels. (b) If the defendant was a minor participant in any criminal activity, decrease by 2 levels. In cases falling between (a) and (b), decrease by 3 levels. 76 U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. This section provides a range of adjustments for a defendant who plays a part in committing the offense that makes him substantially less culpable than the average participant. Id., background comment. 77 The reduction for being a minimal participant in § 3B1.2(a) is intended to cover only those 'defendants who are plainly among the least culpable' participants in the group conduct, such as those who exhibit a 'lack of knowledge or understanding of the scope and structure of the enterprise and of the activities of others.' United States v. Roberts, 223 F.3d 377, 379 (6th Cir. 2000)(quoting § 3B1.2, comment. (n.1)). This adjustment is primarily for someone who played a single, limited role in a very large organization, such as 'someone who played no other role in a very large drug smuggling operation than to offload part of a single marijuana shipment.' United States v. Mahan, 190 F.3d 416, 426 (6th Cir. 1999)(quoting U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, comment. (n.2)). It is intended that the downward adjustment for a minimal participant will be used infrequently.U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, comment. (n.2). 78 For purposes of applying a minor role adjustment under §3B1.2(b), a minor participant means any participant who is less culpable than most other participants, but whose role could not be described as minimal. Roberts, 223 F.3d at 379; U.S.S.G. §3B1.2(b), comment. (n.3). 79 A defendant who plays a lesser role in a criminal scheme may nonetheless fail to qualify as a minor participant if his role was indispensable or critical to the success of the scheme, or if his importance in the overall scheme was such as to justify his sentence. United States v. Latouf, 132 F.3d 320, 332 (6th Cir. 1997)(A defendant whose participation is indispensable to the carrying out of the plan is not entitled to a role reduction.), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1101 (1998); United States v. Burroughs, 5 F.3d 192, 194-95 (6th Cir. 1993)(reduction properly denied where defendant played key role). 80 In determining whether to award the defendant a reduction for a mitigating role in the offense, the district court must consider the portion of the relevant conduct of the conspiracy that was attributable to the defendant for purposes of determining his base offense level. Roberts, 223 F.3d at 380-81 (in sentencing drug conspiracy defendant, district court properly looked only to the relevant conduct attributed to defendant for purposes of determining his base offense level in determining whether to apply mitigating role adjustment). See also United States v. Roper, 135 F.3d 430, 434 (6th Cir.)(The salient issue is the role the defendant played in relation to the activity for which the court held him or her accountable.), cert. denied, 524 U.S. 920 (1998); United States v. Welch, 97 F.3d 142, 152 (6th Cir. 1996)(reduction inappropriate where full amount of drugs in conspiracy was not attributed to defendant); United States v. Walton, 908 F.2d 1289, 1303 (6th Cir.)(noting that while defendants were minor participants in relation to the scope of the conspiracy as a whole, they were not entitled to a role reduction since they were only held accountable for the quantities of cocaine they were actively involved in distributing), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 990 (1990). 81 The defendant, as the proponent of the downward adjustment, bears the burden of proving a mitigating role in the offense by a preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Owusu, 199 F.3d 329, 337 (6th Cir. 2000). We review a district court's denial of a mitigating role adjustment to a defendant's offense level for clear error. Id 6 . 82 The record reveals that Salgado drove the vehicle containing seven kilograms of cocaine from Miami, Florida, to Louisville, Kentucky. The transportation of the cocaine from Florida was an act crucial to the success of the criminal scheme. Further, Salgado's role was not limited to simply transporting the cocaine. During the trip, Salgado communicated with Portuondo-Gonzalez via cell phone. He met with Portuondo-Gonzalez at a restaurant and exchanged the vehicle for Portuondo-Gonzalez's Toyota Camry, thereby facilitatingPortuondo-Gonzalez's unloading of the cocaine, then drove the Camry to Portuondo-Gonzalez's residence. Salgado was at the Portuondo-Gonzalez residence when the sale of five kilograms of cocaine to the informant was supposed to occur. 83 In addition, Salgado was not held accountable for the full amount of cocaine involved in the conspiracy. Portuondo-Gonzalez told investigators that he had made four trips to Florida to obtain cocaine, including the 2,754.2 grams of cocaine sold to Heath on April 27, 1998. There was evidence that Salgado himself transported seven kilograms of cocaine to Louisville on May 1, 1998, but his relevant conduct was limited to the quantity of 5,011 grams of cocaine which was to be sold to Heath. It is this transaction which is relevant for purposes of applying the mitigating role adjustment. The extent of Salgado's involvement in the five kilogram sale was not less culpable than that of the other participants in the transaction. Thus, Salgado is not a minor participant. Likewise, the record fails to show that Salgado played only a single, limited role in the transaction, or that he lacked knowledge or understanding of the scope of the transaction, so as to qualify him as a minimal participant. Salgado has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that he was entitled to a mitigating role adjustment.