Court Opinion

ID: 9352324
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-05 19:00:55.463158+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:00:49.763937
License: Public Domain

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

                        UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                             FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
                                 _______________

                                 Nos. 21-3079 & 21-3080
                                   _______________

                            UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
                                             v.

                              VAN GREGORY BARROWS,
                                                  Appellant
                                  _______________

                     On Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Western District of Pennsylvania
                   (D.C. Nos. 2:18-cr-00076-001 & 2:20-cr-00019-001)
                     U.S. District Judge: Honorable David S. Cercone
                                     _______________
                      Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a)
                                on September 13, 2022

               Before: KRAUSE, BIBAS, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges

                                  (Filed: January 5, 2023)
                                     _______________

                                       OPINION *
                                    _______________

BIBAS, Circuit Judge.

    When drug dealers bring guns to a drug deal, they do it for protection. Van Gregory

Barrows is no different. He brought two friends and three guns to Pittsburgh; one of the

friends brought a fourth gun. Barrows made the trip to use cryptocurrency ATMs to convert

*
   This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and, under I.O.P. 5.7, is not binding
precedent.
dollars to bitcoin, which he used to order drugs and have them shipped to his hotel. The

police caught on and arrested Barrows and his friend at their hotel room. There, they found

methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and the loaded guns. A few days later, they seized

a shipment of meth that Barrows had arranged.

   Barrows pleaded guilty to attempted possession with intent to distribute meth, conspir-

acy to possess and distribute meth, and gun possession by a drug user. 21 U.S.C.

§§ 841(b)(1)(A)(viii), 846; 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3). Each drug-distribution charge triggered

a ten-year mandatory minimum. But at sentencing, he sought relief from the minima under

the so-called safety valve. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f); U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2. The District Court re-

jected that claim and sentenced him to ten years’ imprisonment. He now appeals.

   We review the sentencing court’s factual findings for clear error, its reading of the Sen-

tencing Guidelines de novo, and its application of the Guidelines to the facts for abuse of

discretion. United States v. Carter, 730 F.3d 187, 190 (3d Cir. 2013).

   Safety-valve relief is available to a defendant who meets five criteria. One is that he

“did not … possess a firearm … in connection with the offense.” U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2(a)(2).

A defendant possesses a gun “in connection with” a drug crime if there is “some relation-

ship or association, … such as a causal or logical relation” between the gun and the crime.

United States v. Loney, 219 F.3d 281, 284 (3d Cir. 2000) (interpreting “in connection with”

under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(5)). That “causal or logical relation” exists when the gun’s pres-

ence makes the crime more dangerous or the defendant more blameworthy. See U.S.S.G.

§ 5C1.2(a)(1)–(5) (denying safety-valve relief if the defendant has a greater-than-minimal

criminal record, used violence or threats of violence, or something similar). The defendant

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bears the burden of proving that there was no such relationship. United States v. Claxton,

766 F.3d 280, 305 (3d Cir. 2014).

   Barrows failed to meet that burden. Under the plain meaning of § 5C1.2(a)(2), Barrows

possessed the guns in connection with his plan to buy drugs. His only argument below was

that he brought the guns along because “he just likes shooting guns.” II JA 4. But he offered

no evidence that on his trip to Pittsburgh he went hunting or target shooting, brought along

paper targets, or the like. Rather, he came to buy drugs, and he brought more guns than

people. The guns were found loaded in his hotel room, which was his Pittsburgh base of

operations and where he had his drugs shipped. The District Court rightly found that Bar-

rows had brought the guns to protect himself while he conspired to buy drugs and then

bring them home. Those guns made the crime more dangerous, and they made Barrows

more culpable. They were thus causally related to and possessed “in connection with” his

drug dealing. So he did not qualify for the safety valve, and we will affirm.

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