Court Opinion

ID: 9490757
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:53:39.400388+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:17.900040
License: Public Domain

NORRIS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
Appellant Bob Jack Washman pled guilty to a single count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The quantity he possessed was sufficient to subject him to a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(l)(B)(vii). Appellant claims, however, that he qualifies for sentencing relief under the so-called “safety valve” statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f). The sole question on appeal is whether § 3553(f)(5) requires him to disclose information concerning conduct of which he has never been convicted in order to qualify for relief from the mandatory minimum sentence.
I
Congress enacted the safety valve statute “to ensure that mandatory minimum sentences are targeted toward relatively more serious conduct.” United States v. Thompson, 81 F.3d 877, 879 (9th Cir.1996) (citing H.R.Rep. No. 103-460, 103d Cong., 2d Sess. (1994)). The statute applies to specified narcotics offenses and provides relief from an otherwise mandatory minimum sentence if a defendant meets five requirements. Subsection 3553(f) provides:
[I]n the case of an offense under [21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 844, 846, 961, or 963], the court shall impose a sentence pursuant to the guidelines ... without regard to any statutory minimum sentence, if the court finds at sentencing ... that:
(1) the defendant does not have more than 1 criminal history point, as determined under the sentencing guidelines;
(2) the defendant did not use violence or credible threats of violence or possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon (or induce another participant to do so) in connection with the offense;
(3) the offense did not result in death or serious bodily injury to any person;
(4) the defendant was not an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor of others in the offense, as determined under the sentencing guidelines and was not engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise, as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 848; and
(5) not later than the time of the sentencing hearing, the defendant has truthfully provided to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme or plan....
18 U.S.C. § 3553(f).
At his sentencing hearing, appellant argued that he met all five requirements of the safety valve and that he should have been sentenced under the applicable guidelines range of 37-46 months, rather than the mandatory minimum of 60 months. The government argued in response that he did not meet the requirement of § 3553(f)(5) because he refused to provide information concerning his alleged involvement in the transportation of prior loads of marijuana. In turn, appellant argued that it- would violate his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to condition sentencing relief on the disclosure of information concerning prior *1309loads of marijuana because he has never been convicted of any such conduct and, thus, might have his disclosures used against him in a future prosecution. The district court rejected this argument and sentenced him to the mandatory minimum of 60 months.1
On appeal, appellant presses his Fifth Amendment argument. We should not decide this constitutional issue, however, because the plain language of (f)(5) does not require appellant to disclose information concerning conduct of which he has never been convicted. See, e.g., Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288, 347, 56 S.Ct. 466, 483, 80 L.Ed. 688 (1936) (Brandéis, J., concurring) (“[I]f a case can be decided on either of two grounds, one involving a constitutional question, the other a question of statutory construction ... the Court will decide only the latter.”).
II
In using the word “offense” in subsection (f)(5) of the safety valve statute, Congress limited the safety valve’s disclosure requirement to convicted conduct. The first sentence of § 3553(f) makes clear that Congress intended the word “offense” to refer only to an actual conviction. That sentence provides that “in the case of an offense under [one of the various controlled substance laws] ... the court shall impose a sentence ... without regard to any statutory minimum.... ” A court would be powerless to impose a sentence for an “offense” — or any conduct — of which a defendant had not been convicted. A court might well be able to enhance a sentence on the basis of unconvicted conduct, see, e.g., U.S. Sentencing Guidelines § 1B1.3, but it cannot impose a sentence for such conduct. Thus, in using the word “offense” in (f)(5), Congress could only have intended to require a defendant seeking relief from a mandatory minimum sentence to provide information concerning conduct of which he has already been convicted.2
The care with which Congress chose the word “offense” to exclude unconvicted conduct is demonstrated by a comparison of the language of (f)(5) with the language of § 1B1.3(a)(2) of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. In drafting subsection (f)(5) of the safety valve, Congress used language virtually identical to that used in Guideline lB1.3(a)(2), but with one significant difference. The Guideline defines “relevant conduct,” for purposes of determining a defendant’s base offense level, as “all acts or omissions ... that were part of the same course of conduct of common scheme or plan as the offense of conviction.” This definition includes all conduct relevant to the offense of conviction, including conduct of which the defendant has never been convicted. See, e.g., United States v. Restrepo, 903 F.2d 648, 651 (9th Cir.1990), aff'd en banc, 946 F.2d 654 (9th Cir.1991).
Congress imported into (f)(5) the Guideline language “part of the same course of conduct or common scheme or plan” almost word-for-word. It did not, however, import the words “all acts or omissions,” instead replacing those words with “the offense or offenses.” (Subsection (f)(5) requires a defendant to provide information concerning “the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme or plan.”) The switch from “all acts or omissions” to “the offense or offenses” plainly manifests Congress’ intent to limit the disclosure requirement to information concerning conduct of which a defendant has actually been convicted.
I recognize that my reading of subsection (f)(5) puts me at odds with the Sentencing Commission, which has interpreted (f)(5) as requiring the disclosure of information concerning “the offense of conviction and all relevant conduct.” U.S. Sentencing Guidelines § 5C1.2, Application Note 3 (emphasis added). In reading the word “offense” in (f)(5) to apply to all conduct — convicted or *1310unconvieted — that is relevant to the offense of conviction, the Commission has effectively changed Congress’ words “the offense or offenses” to “all acts or omissions.” The Commission offers no explanation why Congress would have used the words “the offense or offenses” if what it meant was “all acts or omissions.” The only plausible reading is the one suggested by the first sentence of § 3553(f), which defines “offense” as conduct for which a court may impose a sentence — in other words, an actual conviction. Therefore, the Commission’s interpretation of “offense” is contrary to the plain language of the statute.
I would hold that appellant is not required by § 3553(f)(5) to provide information concerning his alleged involvement in the transportation or prior loads of marijuana because he has never been convicted of any such conduct. His sentence should be vacated and the case remanded to the district court for resentencing.

. The district court found that appellant did meet the requirements of (f)(1) — (0(3), but that he failed to meet the disclosure requirement of (f)(5). The district court made no findings with respect to (0(4).

. Further support for this reading of "offense” to mean an actual conviction is provided by the manner in which Congress used that term in (0(2), (0(3), (0(4), and (0(5).- In each instance, "offense” refers unambiguously to the underlying conviction from which a defendant seeks sentencing relief under the safety valve.