Court Opinion

ID: 9482442
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:50:46.549014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:00.220962
License: Public Domain

JOINER, Senior District Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree that the conviction should be affirmed for all the reasons stated in the majority opinion. However, I would not remand for resentencing. I believe the trial judge was not clearly erroneous in correctly applying section 2C1.1 to increase the offense level by two points. The majority, although paying lip service to the clearly erroneous standard for review, fails, in my judgment, to give due deference to the district judge in this determination. The district judge found that the defendant had obstructed justice and that the false statements to the special agent significantly impeded the government’s investigation of the offense. This court should not attempt to second guess the sentencing judge in a case like this. It is wrong not to give credence to the trial judge’s finding that the government’s assertion of the need for more investigation was impeded by the false statements. It is not for this court to determine when a criminal investigation is ended. I would affirm across the board.