Opinion ID: 162392
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: decision to depart

Text: 40 As noted above, the Government concedes on appeal that some amount of downward departure was reasonable in this case. The Government nonetheless argues that some of the factors relied upon by the district court in deciding whether to depart were impermissible. Although we agree that the district court based its decision whether to depart on one factor — collateral employment consequences 4 — that was not established in this record to be outside of the heartland, we conclude that the district court would have departed downward even if it had not relied upon that unsupported factor. Cf. Koon, 518 U.S. at 113. Based on the court's explanation at sentencing and the focus of the parties' sentencing presentations, it seems clear that the factor that loomed the largest in the mind of the court was Goldberg's extraordinary post-offense rehabilitation. The court made only passing mention of employment consequences as a basis for departure. Further, the fact that the court granted such a large downward departure is strong evidence that the decision of whether to depart in the first place was not a close one. Finally, the Government itself concedes that downward departure is appropriate. Thus, we conclude that the district court's reliance upon one improper factor in its decision to make a departure does not require reconsideration of this issue at resentencing.