Opinion ID: 14453
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Lombardi's Base Offense Level

Text: 14 Lombardi's final complaint is that the district court erred in calculating the amount of marijuana attributed to Lombardi for purposed of determining his base offense level within the Sentencing Guidelines. Lombardi's presentence investigation report held him responsible for 2,000 pounds of marijuana, which resulted in a base offense level of 31 under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.2(a)(2). Application Note 12 of U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 permits a court to use the negotiated quantity of drugs in determining base offense level unless the defendant was not reasonably capable of producing the amount. Lombardi objected arguing that the drug transaction involved only 877 pounds of marijuana. The district court overruled Lombardi's objection stating that it was just a matter of time before Lombardi would have come up with the remaining 1,123 pounds. 15 It is well-established law in this Circuit that, generally, the burden of proof at sentencing is a preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Mergerson, 4 F.3d 337, 343 (5th Cir.1993). The clearly erroneous standard of review protects the district court's determination of the amount of drugs involved in an offense. Id. at 345. 16 Lombardi argues that the evidence at trial showed that the conspirators were not capable of providing the 2,000 pounds for which he was held accountable. He points out that he had to ask Benavides when he could provide the remaining amount. Moreover, Lombardi argues that he was not reasonably capable of producing the 2,000 pounds. The amount of 2,000 pounds was one that Agent DeSantis had determined to buy even before he met with Lombardi. Thus, the base offense level for the 2,000 pounds was clearly erroneous. 17 We disagree. The evidence supports the trial court's determination. While Agent DeSantis may have decided to buy 2,000 pounds of marijuana, Lombardi agreed to the amount. In fact while Lombardi and DeSantis were negotiating for the drugs, Lombardi repeatedly reassured Agent DeSantis that he could deliver the 2,000 pounds within ten days. Moreover, there was testimony involving drug ledgers and documents reflecting additional pounds of marijuana that Lombardi's other conspirators moved; therefore, it was not clearly erroneous for the judge to assign a base offense level using the 2,000 pounds.