United States v. Obeid, No. 12-1254 (7th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseMore than 10 years ago, Obeid and his twin Esawi were indicted for conspiracy to smuggle pseudoephedrine from Canada into the U.S., to be used in Mexico for methamphetamine production. They smuggled at least 215 million tablets and were involved in money laundering related to the scheme. Each pleaded guilty, with sentencing to be deferred while they assisted in the ongoing investigation. At Obeid’s sentencing, the government noted that much of the cooperation being attributed to Obeid actually had been provided by Esawi because the brothers possessed the same information. The district court sentenced Obeid to 178 months in prison, a 45 percent discount from the low end of the guidelines range. Before Obeid’s sentencing, the government entered into another plea agreement with Esawi , agreeing to seek a further reduction for continuing cooperation. Esawi received an additional 24-month reduction. Obeid never attempted to negotiate such an agreement or to provide further cooperation, but spent years challenging his sentence before filing a “motion to compel the government to seek an additional reduction under [Rule 35(b)].” The district court denied the motion. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, reasoning that the motion should have been filed under 28 U.S.C. 2255 and was, therefore, not timely.
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