Opinion ID: 778825
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Multiplier Method

Text: 24 The aforementioned criteria apply to any method of approximation, including the multiplier method used here. Under the multiplier method, the district court accounts for the defendant's behavior over time by determining a daily or weekly quantity, selecting a time period over which it is more likely than not that the defendant was dealing in that quantity and multiplying these two factors together. See August, 86 F.3d at 155. Although other circuits have approved of the multiplier method, United States v. Paulino, 996 F.2d 1541, 1548 (3d Cir.1993); United States v. Walton, 908 F.2d 1289, 1302 (6th Cir.1990), and we have cited those cases with approval, Scheele, 231 F.3d at 498; August, 86 F.3d at 154, we have not previously had occasion to hold that the multiplier method is one permissible method of approximating drug quantity. 4 We do so now. Provided that the approximation has a reliable evidentiary basis and that the court proceeds with caution, a court may approximate drug quantity for sentencing purposes by multiplying an estimated daily or weekly quantity by an applicable period of time. The district court did not err by choosing to employ the multiplier method here. We thus consider whether the three numbers the court plugged into the formula are clearly erroneous.