United States v. Ramirez, No. 13-1013 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseRamirez, a courier and bookkeeper in an Indianapolis methamphetamine distribution ring, was arrested minutes after she left a stash house carrying five pounds of meth worth more than $100,000. A search of the house yielded two handguns. Ramirez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 or more grams of meth, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 846, but at sentencing claimed to have been unaware that her coconspirators possessed guns. The court found that the coconspirators’ firearm possession was reasonably foreseeable to her and increased the offense level by two levels for possession of a dangerous weapon, U.S.S.G. 2D1.1(b)(1). The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that she could not have reasonably foreseen that her coconspirators possessed guns and that she was eligible for a two-level reduction in her offense level under the so-called “safety valve” for nonviolent first-time drug offenders. Ramirez had important roles in a sizable drug enterprise; it was not clear error to attribute the coconspirators’ gun possession to her. Possession of a firearm in connection with the offense generally disqualifies the defendant from receiving safety valve consideration. Whether that applies to liability for a coconspirator’s gun possession was a question of first impression that Ramirez failed to raise in the district court.
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