Opinion ID: 773055
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: U.S.S.G. sec. 3B1.2

Text: 54 Salazar and Santa Cruz argue that the district court clearly erred by refusing to grant them a sentence reduction under U.S.S.G. sec. 3B1.2, 1 which states: 55 Based on the defendant's role in the offense, decrease the offense level as follows: 56 (a) If the defendant was a minimal participant in any criminal activity, decrease by 4 levels. 57 (b) If the defendant was a minor participant in any criminal activity, decrease by 2 levels. 58 In cases falling between (a) and (b), decrease by 3 levels. 59 A minimal participant is one who is plainly among the least culpable of those involved in the conduct of a group, while a minor participant is one who is less culpable than most other participants. U.S.S.G. sec. 3B1.2, cmt. n.1, 3. As we have repeatedly held, the relevant inquiry is whether the defendant was a minor [or minimal] participant in the crime for which he was convicted, not whether he was a minor [or minimal] participant in some broader conspiracy that may have surrounded it. United States v. Brown, 136 F.3d 1176, 1185-86 (7th Cir. 1998) (citing United States v. Burnett, 66 F.3d 137, 140 (7th Cir. 1995)); see United States v. Isienyi, 207 F.3d 390, 392 (7th Cir. 2000); United States v. Neeley, 189 F.3d 670, 684 (7th Cir. 1999); United States v. Griffin, 150 F.3d 778, 787 (7th Cir. 1998). Since determining one's role in the offense is a fact-based inquiry, we review the district court's decision for clear error, which exists when, after reviewing the evidence, we are left with the definite and firm notion that a mistake was made. See United States v. Hunte, 196 F.3d 687, 694 (7th Cir. 1999). 60 At sentencing, the district court assigned Salazar and Santa Cruz a base offense level of 38 and a criminal history category of I, resulting in a range of 235 to 293 months imprisonment. The court set Salazar's sentence on both Counts 1 and 2 at 235 months, to run concurrently, and Santa Cruz' sentence at 235 months on Count 2. In setting Salazar and Santa Cruz' base offense level, the district court held that each of the defendants had possessed all of the 500 some kilograms of cocaine in the truck. Thus, in denying each defendant a minor or minimal role reduction, the court found that since each had possessed all of the cocaine, nobody was a less culpable player. 2 The court expressed that while it believed that none of the defendants were managers, supervisors, organizers, or kingpins, it also believed that none of them were merely minimal or minor participants. See Sentencing Tr. at 28, 47. 61 When no conduct of other participants in a criminal scheme is attributed to a defendant for purposes of sentencing, our cases hold that he is not entitled to a sentencing discount because he is a minor or minimal participant in some larger criminal activity of which the conduct for which he is being punished is a part. United States v. Cruz, 233 F.3d 492, 493 (7th Cir. 2000) (citing Almanza, 225 F.3d at 846; United States v. Hamzat, 217 F.3d 494, 497 (7th Cir. 2000); Isienyi, 207 F.3d at 392). Almanza says that a sentencing discount under U.S.S.G. sec. 3B1.2 may be possible if a defendant is charged with and convicted of multiple transactions in a conspiracy and he or she only participated in some of them, but not all, or a reduction may be possible if a defendant is charged in a conspiracy, whether consisting of one or many transactions, and he or she only played a small role (such as a lookout) in the transaction(s). See 225 F.3d at 847. Defendants argue that this latter possibility applies to them. 62 Salazar and Santa Cruz contend that the court's decision was clearly erroneous because their role in the offense was small; they were just cogs in a wheel. Defendants ask that the 500 some kilograms of cocaine be divvied up and that only the amount of cocaine that they personally unloaded from the truck ought to be attributed to them for sentencing purposes. They argue that they were charged with all of the group's conduct even though they only moved the boxes around in the trailer and only unloaded one box before they were arrested. They point out that they were not involved in driving the truck up from Texas (which was Johnson's job), nor was it their responsibility to drive the van away (which was Guzman's job). They liken their role more like that of the defendant in Hunte. In Hunte we remanded to the district court to enter a sentence reduction for at least minor and possibly minimal participation for a defendant in a drug distribution group who helped hide the group's activities by closing the blinds and registering for a motel room, but who was neither a courier nor a helper in loading and unloading the drugs. See 196 F.3d at 693-94. 63 But this case is different. We agree with the district court that Salazar and Santa Cruz' roles in the offense were more culpable than they have argued. See United States v. Kerr, 13 F.3d 203, 206 (7th Cir. 1993) (explaining that one who plays a lesser role than others is not necessarily a minor participant). The district court found that all of the defendants exercised total control over all of the cocaine and thus were all equally culpable for it. Furthermore, no additional relevant conduct beyond the drugs involved in this case was attributed to the defendants. After reviewing the record, we find that the district court did not clearly err in denying Salazar and Santa Cruz a mitigating role adjustment.