Opinion ID: 757274
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Adjustment for Minimal Participation in Offense

Text: 12 The sentencing guidelines provide for a four level downward adjustment in a defendant's offense level if the defendant was a minimal participant in the criminal activity. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(a) (1995). 2 Uncontested evidence linking Green to the garden was his presence there on one confirmed occasion when he watered the plants. The fact that he gathered belongings from the campsite indicates that he was there on at least one other occasion. Indeed, he admitted that he had been to the garden on two prior occasions. He also stated that he was there on the day of his arrest as a favor to Wolf. By contrast, Wolf was the person identified by the hardware store employee as the person who, usually alone, frequented the store for supplies. There is no indication that he recognized a photograph of Green. Further, a search of Wolf's home revealed receipts from Home Depot that matched the equipment at the site. There is no indication that any evidence was seized from Green's home. Wolf's vehicle was identified as one that was seen near the garden with some frequency over the past year. Green's truck was not similarly identified. Green's statements, that he watered the plants to assist Wolf and that he had been to the garden only a few times in the past, coupled with the lack of physical evidence linking him to the garden, support the court's finding that his role was minimal as compared to Wolf's role. 13 The government's evidence suggesting that Green's role was as significant as Wolf's came from Wolf's daughter. The district court reasonably could have discounted her statements because of the obvious interest she may have had in placing blame on Green rather than her father. However, the government also offered the declaration of Agent Rita Wears, a Forest Service agent who interviewed Green regarding his eligibility for the safety valve. She stated that Green acknowledged that he had made two previous attempts to maintain a marijuana garden with Wolf and that the two contributed roughly equally to the physical labor, although Wolf was present at the garden more often than he was. These statements in part corroborate Wolf's daughter's statements. However, Green argued to the district court that Agent Wear's statements were inaccurate and that a typed government report of one of the two days of the interview indicates that Green stated that Wolf performed 95% of the work involved in this particular garden. Green contends that the two shared the labor regarding an earlier garden which yielded a minimal amount of marijuana for personal use. Finally, Green's statement that he expected to share equally in the profits also supports the government's contentions that his role was not minimal. He admitted that there was no formal arrangement, however, and the court may have believed that Green's statement reflected his hopes for compensation rather than the reality of the situation. 14 In summary, there is some evidence to support both Green's and the government's position regarding Green's role. Although the issue is a close one we do not believe that the court clearly erred in concluding that Green's role was minimal. The uncontested physical and surveillance evidence supports such a conclusion. As to Agent Wear's declaration, the district court may have believed that Green's challenge to her statements was sufficient to cast doubt on the import of her declaration, at least to the extent that it would work neither in favor nor against Green. Although Green's own statement about the compensation he hoped to receive is troubling, it is not enough, in itself, for us to conclude that the district court clearly erred, particularly since Green admitted that there was no formal agreement to share the profits of the enterprise.