Opinion ID: 6538
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: brenda brown thurman

Text: 40 At sentencing, the court found that Thurman participated in transporting 40 kilograms of cocaine. The district court, over the government's objection, then awarded Thurman a two-level reduction for minor participation; the court thereby arrived at a base offense level of 32, which, with a level I criminal history, resulted in a punishment range of 121-151 months. The district court, however, departed downwardly and sentenced Thurman to 120 months. Apparently, the one-month departure was intended to achieve harmony with Brown's sentence, whom the district court sentenced just before sentencing Thurman. For the reasons stated above, we must vacate Thurman's sentence because a sentencing court is not authorized to depart downwardly for the sole purpose of achieving consistency in sentencing among co-defendants. 41 We find permissible, however, the court's two-level reduction based on Thurman's minor participation. Under Sec. 3B1.2(b), a district court must reduce an offense level by two if it finds that the defendant was a minor participant in the offense. A defendant is considered a minor participant if he or she is substantially less culpable than the average participant. United States v. Lokey, 945 F.2d 825, 840 (5th Cir.1991). Whether Thurman played only a minor role in the conspiracy is a factual determination which must be upheld unless it is clearly erroneous. United States v. Giraldo-Lara, 919 F.2d 19, 22 (5th Cir.1990). 42 The testimony at trial revealed that Thurman distributed travel money to organization drivers and that Thurman was a passenger in one of the drug smuggling vehicles. The district judge was entitled to conclude that Thurman was less culpable than most other participants in this large drug smuggling operation. We are persuaded that the district court did not commit clear error in concluding that Thurman was a minor participant.