Court Opinion

ID: 990472
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-03 23:22:14.567889+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:40:10.385277
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.
                                                                   No. 95-5859
LANCE VONDEL BELL, a/k/a Lance
Lee,
Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of West Virginia, at Wheeling.
Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., Chief District Judge.
(CR-94-114)

Submitted: September 20, 1996

Decided: October 3, 1996

Before NIEMEYER, HAMILTON, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

Thomas E. Johnson, SCHRADER, BYRD, COMPANION & GUR-
LEY, Wheeling, West Virginia, for Appellant. William D. Wilmoth,
United States Attorney, Sam G. Nazzaro, Assistant United States
Attorney, Wheeling, West Virginia, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Appellant Lance Vondel Bell pled guilty to conspiracy to possess
with intent to distribute cocaine base, 21 U.S.C.§ 846 (1994). On
appeal, he contends that he should have received a downward adjust-
ment for being a minor participant in the drug conspiracy. Finding no
error, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

On two separate occasions, undercover officers purchased crack
cocaine from Bell. Bell was also in possession of crack cocaine after
a later arrest for purse snatching. Further evidence presented by the
Government established that Bell had been involved in the drug con-
spiracy from June 1993 to June 1994. In exchange for his guilty plea,
the Government agreed to move the district court under United States
Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual,§ 3B1.2 (Nov. 1994),
for a two-level downward adjustment for being a minor participant in
the offense.

At sentencing, both Bell and the Government objected to the pre-
sentence report and requested that the district court find that Bell was
entitled to the downward departure for his role in the offense. The dis-
trict court denied these requests.

We review a district court's decision not to adjust downward under
§ 3B1.2 under the clearly erroneous standard. United States v.
Daughtrey, 874 F.2d 213, 218 (4th Cir. 1989). Under § 3B1.2, a dis-
trict court may grant a two-point downward adjustment if the defen-
dant played a minor role in the offense. See United States v. Brooks,
957 F.2d 1138, 1149 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 505 U.S. 1228 (1992).

After a review of the record, we find that the district court did not
clearly err in refusing to grant the adjustment. The evidence estab-
lished that Bell was involved in the conspiracy for at least one year.

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His involvement did not comprise a single event, but an extended
connection. Additionally, a drug seller in a drug conspiracy generally
cannot be considered a minor participant. Brooks , 957 F.2d at 1149.

Accordingly, we affirm Bell's conviction and sentence. We dis-
pense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument
would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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