Opinion ID: 1433971
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Whitfield's acceptance of responsibility

Text: Whitfield claims that he should receive a reduced sentence based upon his acceptance of responsibility. See U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1. A district court's determination as to whether a defendant has accepted responsibility is afforded great deference on review and is reviewed under a standard that is even more deferential than a pure clearly erroneous standard. United States v. Cordero, 465 F.3d 626, 630-31 (5th Cir.2006) (internal quotations omitted). Whitfield contends that he accepted responsibility by cooperating with the FBI early in the stages of its investigation before he was indicted. However, Whitfield did not plead guilty and took his case to trial. Given the wide latitude afforded the district court on this issue, we clearly cannot say that the district court erred in refusing to find that Whitfield accepted responsibility for his crimes. However, we do note that today we reverse two of Whitfield's convictions. Thus, Whitfield was not entirely unjustified in challenging the charges brought against him in court.