Opinion ID: 1443071
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Shy's Sentencing

Text: The parties agreed that Shy qualified for safety valve relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) and U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2, and the district court granted a motion for reduction. Shy also sought a § 3553(a) variance. Shy stated that as a single parent, she devoted the past eighteen years of her life to raising her daughter. Her daughter was a straight A student and was graduating that year. Shy expressed hope to see her daughter graduate. While admitting a methamphetamine problem, Shy stated that she had been clean for the past couple of months. She emphasized that she took business classes at a college and worked hard to build a new life for herself. Shy also discussed her physical and emotional condition: she had been diagnosed with endometriosis and inflammatory bowel syndrome. She also may have suffered from situational depression from hitting and killing a person in a car accident. The district court described Shy's crime as extremely serious because Shy contributed to the methamphetamine problem by providing an essential ingredient for the manufacture of methamphetamine. But the district court noted that Shy successfully participated in a drug treatment program and was no longer the same person who committed the crime two years earlier. The district court stated the Guidelines were a significant factor in determining a sentence and the applicable Guidelines range was 37-46 months. The district court found that a Guidelines sentence was not reasonable because it was unnecessary to achieve sentencing objectives of deterrence, punishment, and protection of the public. The district court told Shy that [b]y all indications, what you have done for yourself in the last two years has shown to me that you are capable of cleaning up your act and capable of avoiding that kind of conduct in the future. The district court also stated that Shy did not pose a threat to the public. The district court did not mention that Shy possessed methamphetamine when she was arrested under the indictment. After considering these facts, the § 3553(a) factors, the Sentencing Guidelines, and Shy's health, the district court sentenced Shy to three years of probation.