Opinion ID: 3034776
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The “safety valve” provision of 18 U.S.C.

Text: § 3553(f) Duarte challenges the denial of his request for application of the “safety valve” provision of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) to avoid the ten-year statutory mandatory minimum provided in 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A). Duarte does not quarrel with the district court’s finding that he failed to give a truthful statement about the complete circumstances of the offense.5 Id. Instead, he claims that the five factors enumerated in section 3553(f) are unconstitutional under Blakely because each requires a finding by a judge rather than a jury. “The constitutionality of a statute is a legal question of law that we review de novo.” Younger, 398 F.3d at 1192 (citation omitted). “[A]ny fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490 (emphasis added). [11] The statutory mandatory minimum sentences under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b) are not triggered unless and until a jury has found, beyond a reasonable doubt, the quantity of a controlled substance. See United States v. Velasco-Heredia, 319 F.3d 1080, 1086 (9th Cir. 2003) (stating that after Apprendi, the statutory mandatory minimum sentences under 21 U.S.C. § 841 do not apply “until the jury, or the court in a bench trial, finds beyond a reasonable doubt [ ] the quantity involved in the violation.”). Because mandatory minimum sentences under section 841(b) presuppose a jury’s determination of the underlying facts, their imposition does not offend either Apprendi or Blakely. See United States v. Hitchcock, 298 F.3d 5 The last of five factors that the sentencing court must find under § 3553(f) states, in part, that “not later than the time of the sentencing hearing, the defendant has truthfully provided to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning the offense or offenses . . . .” 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(5) (2000). 15276 UNITED STATES v. LABRADA-BUSTAMANTE 1021 (9th Cir. 2002), as amended, (holding that “mandatory minimums do not implicate Apprendi.”) (citation omitted). Duarte would have us hold that facts allowing a decreased sentence below that mandatory minimum must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt as well. Neither Apprendi nor Blakely compel such a holding. Therefore, we hold that the safety valve provision of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) is not unconstitutional under Apprendi or Blakely. However, because the district court sentenced Duarte under the then-mandatory Guidelines, we also vacate his sentence and remand for resentencing. As with Labrada, the district court expressly lamented the mandated sentence, stating that it was “struggling . . . because it would like to find a way to give [Duarte] less time.” The court’s statement justifies concluding that the sentence would have differed materially under advisory Guidelines. See Ameline, 409 F.3d at 1084.