Opinion ID: 554583
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: voluntary payment of restitution prior to adjudication of guilt;

Text: 44 (c) voluntary and truthful admission to authorities of involvement in the offense and related conduct; 45 (d) voluntary surrender to authorities promptly after commission of the offense; 46 (e) voluntary assistance to authorities in the recovery of the fruits and instrumentalities of the offense; 47 (f) voluntary resignation from the office or position held during the commission of the offense; and 48 (g) the timeliness of the defendant's conduct in manifesting the acceptance of responsibility. 49 U.S.S.G. Sec. 3D1.1, comment. (n. 1). 50 Defendants requesting sentence reductions bear the burden of proving facts leading to such reduction by a preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Rodriguez, 896 F.2d 1031, 1032 (6th Cir.1990). We note that a guilty plea does not automatically warrant an acceptance of responsibility sentence reduction as a matter of right, although it may provide some evidence of acceptance of responsibility. U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1(c) (1989); Carroll, 893 F.2d at 1512; Barrett, 890 F.2d at 868. According to his probation officer: 51 Mr. Ellis, while discussing his reported short-term involvement in the operation, has not clearly demonstrated a recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility for his criminal conduct. Mr. Ellis' reported actions compared to what the government is ready to prove are quite different in that Ellis was more important to the conspiracy than he purports. His guilty plea is some evidence of acceptance, but not itself reason for the reduction. 52 The district court stated, I'm unable to see any justification for a reduction for acceptance of responsibility.... [Ellis] attempted to withdraw from the conspiracy, but he certainly did nothing thereafter until he was arrested. So any adjustment for acceptance of responsibility is inappropriate. 53 We hold that in view of this information, it was not clearly erroneous for the district court to find that Ellis had not proven facts showing acceptance of personal responsibility for his criminal activity.