Opinion ID: 70447
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of section 1B1.3 to this case

Text: 45 Generally, a district court's attribution of drugs to a defendant under the guidelines is reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. See United States v. Hansley, 54 F.3d 709, 714 (11th Cir.1995). The issue in this appeal, however, involves purely a legal question: whether the district court misapplied U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3. As a result, our review is de novo. See United States v. Smith, 54 F.3d 690, 691 (11th Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 329, --- L.Ed.2d ---- (1995). 46 The district court sentenced the appellants in June 1993. Thus, the amended version of section 1B1.3 applied because the applicable Sentencing Guidelines are those that are in effect on the date the defendant is sentenced. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(a)(4)(A); see also United States v. Munoz-Realpe, 21 F.3d 375, 377 (11th Cir.1994) (the version of the Guidelines in effect on the date of sentencing is applied). 47 In attributing quantities of cocaine to the appellants, the district court adopted the findings in the addenda to the PSRs. These findings attribute to the appellants all of the cocaine Edmond's organization distributed while the appellants were involved in the Edmond conspiracy. In support of this determination, the findings only state that the appellants could have reasonably foreseen such distribution. Thus, the district court did not consider the scope of criminal activity that each appellant agreed to undertake. The findings with respect to Reese most clearly illustrate this point: 48 Even though Reese may have personally distributed only one to two ounces of crack cocaine per week for Edmond, he should be held accountable for the entire quantity distributed by the Edmond organization based on his knowledge of the organization. Reese knew that ... others were also selling quantities of crack cocaine for Eugene Edmond. As such, pursuant to U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3 (relevant conduct), the defendant should be held accountable for all controlled substances distributed by the Edmond organization during the period of time in which Reese was a member of the Edmond organization. 49 Because the findings rest solely on the basis of the appellants' knowledge, it is evident that the district court was under the erroneous impression that the pre-amendment version of section 1B1.3 applied. 4 50 Although the appellants objected to the quantities of cocaine attributed to them, they did not mention the change in the circuit's law due to the amendment or any of the amended commentary. It is, however, obvious that the appellants have not been sentenced under the amended guideline and the teachings of Bush. Because the appellants objected to the amounts of cocaine attributed to them, their objections were sufficient to preserve the issue for appellate review. Consequently, we remand the case to the district court for resentencing.