Opinion ID: 176042
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Written Plea Agreement

Text: We first examine the district court’s determination that the alternating voluntary and compulsory language of the plea agreement—with its “may” present Ricks’s forthrightness to the court, and its “will” provide information for fair sentencing—did not compel the government to pursue a downward departure. Where a plea agreement requires the government to seek a downward departure in exchange for the defendant’s substantial assistance, the government must do so absent a showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant breached the agreement. Lukse, 286 F.3d at 910–12. But no case stands for the proposition that the language in Ricks’s plea agreement—which fails to mention a § 5K1.1 motion at all—binds the government to recommend a departure. Moreover, even if we interpreted the agreement in Ricks’s favor at every turn, it required the government at most to present information regarding Ricks’s forthrightness to the court in some form, not necessarily by pressing for a downward departure. The district court correctly concluded that the written agreement failed to require that the government file or pursue a § 5K1.1 motion. -5- No. 09-5040 USA v. Ricks