United States v. Young, Jr.; United States v. Lewis, No. 11-2673 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendants appealed their convictions and sentences stemming from a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. The court held that Defendant Young's constitutional challenges to his sentence were without merit where the district court properly considered the sentencing guidelines, specifically noting that the sentencing guidelines were an important but not controlling factor. The court held that the district court's reliance on trial testimony to find Defendant Lewis responsible for the additional amounts of cocaine was not clearly erroneous and the drug quantity was supported by sufficient evidence. The court also held that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Defendant Lewis was a full participant in the conspiracy and in denying his request for a minor-role reduction. Finally, the district court did not clearly err in imposing a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2D1.1(b)(1) by finding that another participant's possession of a firearm was reasonably foreseeable to Defendant Lewis and that it was reasonably foreseeable that the firearm was in furtherance of the conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Accordingly, the court affirmed the convictions and sentences.
Court Description: Criminal case - Sentencing. Constitutional challenge to the Guidelines rejected; district court did not err in calculating the drug quantity attributable to defendant Lewis; no error in denying Lewis's request for a minor rule reduction as the evidence showed he was a full participant in the conspiracy and was not entitled to the reduction; no error in imposing a two-level enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 2D1.1(b)(1) for possession of a firearm in connection with this drug offense because possession of a firearm by another participant was reasonably foreseeable.
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