United States of America, Appellant, Cross-appellee, v. Mark James Oppedahl, Appellee, Cross-appellant, 998 F.2d 584 (8th Cir. 1993)

Steven M. Colloton, Asst. U.S. Atty., Cedar Rapids, IA, argued, for appellant.

R.L. Sole, Cedar Rapids, IA, argued, for appellee.

Before McMILLIAN and BEAM, Circuit Judges, and SACHS,^*  Senior District Judge.

SACHS, Senior District Judge.

Both sides have appealed from the sentencing decision in this drug case. The Government contends that the district court erred in declining to enhance punishment for obstruction of justice upon finding that certain conduct was not "willful" because it occurred before defendant was aware of any investigation. Defendant cross-appeals, contending that location of his apartment near a school did not justify enhanced punishment, either under the statute (21 U.S.C. § 860) or the Sentencing Guidelines, when his conviction was on a conspiracy charge. Finding that the district judge¹  correctly applied the Guidelines, we affirm.

I.

During the course of dealing with a major LSD customer, Jeffrey Lendt, defendant remarked that he would kill the customer if he ever "narked" on his supplier. The district judge held that, whatever defendant's true intentions may have been, the auditor was intimidated by the threat. Unbeknownst to defendant and to Lendt, the conversation occurred at a time when they were under suspicion, and during the course of an investigation. Lendt was not cooperating with law enforcement authorities at the time, but had previously introduced an undercover agent to defendant, seeking to promote drug sales.

After defendant's ultimate arrest and guilty plea, the Probation Officer recommended a two-level increase in the offense level under Guideline § 3C1.1, for obstructing the administration of justice. The court rejected the recommended enhancement, holding that there was no "willful" obstruction of justice, as required for the specified enhancement under the Guidelines, when defendant was unaware of the investigation.

The applicable Guideline provides: "If the defendant willfully obstructed or impeded, or attempted to obstruct or impede, the administration of justice during the investigation, prosecution, or sentencing of the instant offense, increase the offense level by 2 levels."²  The question here is whether the term "willfully" contemplates an understanding that an investigation of a defendant's conduct has probably begun, or simply means that the defendant was generally knowledgeable as to the likely effect of a threat on the person to whom the conduct is directed.

One of the difficulties posed by the Guideline is that, as the Chief Justice once said in dissent, the term willfully is one that has "no fixed meaning." Smith v. Wade, 461 U.S. 30, 63 n. 3, 103 S. Ct. 1625, 1644 n. 3, 75 L. Ed. 2d 632 (1983) (dissenting opinion). Another dissenter has observed that the word has "a wide variety of definitions" and has often been construed "in accordance with its context." McLaughlin v. Richland Shoe Co., 486 U.S. 128, 137, 108 S. Ct. 1677, 1683, 100 L. Ed. 2d 115 (1988) (dissenting opinion of Justice Marshall). Most recently an opinion of the Court stated that, despite efforts at guidance by the Supreme Court, the lower courts "continue to be confused about the meaning of the term 'willful.' " Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S. Ct. 1701, 1709, 123 L. Ed. 2d 338, 350 (1993) (referring to its application to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act).

We are forced to consider the word in context in this case. We find it logically conceivable that it could be applied as the district court did here. It is also conceivable that a willful obstruction would simply mean intentional misconduct having the purpose and probable effect of obstructing justice (as by threatening a possible informer or witness), but without knowledge or awareness that there is a current investigation.³ 

It would be anomalous for the Sentencing Commission to direct that sentences be enhanced for threatening conduct during the course of a totally unknown investigation, while providing that similarly culpable conduct would not result in an enhancement if there were no investigation. Deterrence would not be served by such a rule, absent some awareness of the investigation. Culpability is identical, by definition. We believe that the term "willfully" should be reserved for the more serious case, where misconduct occurs with knowledge of an investigation, or at least with a correct belief that an investigation is probably underway. Thus, the deterring effect of the Guideline is advanced, at least in theory.

Our holding is influenced, if not dictated, by the rule of lenity. This means that the courts will "not interpret a federal criminal statute so as to increase the penalty that it places on an individual when such an interpretation can be based on no more than a guess as to what Congress intended." Ladner v. United States, 358 U.S. 169, 178, 79 S. Ct. 209, 214, 3 L. Ed. 2d 199 (1958). This court has recently quoted the rule as stated in Ladner, and decided that it should be used for guidance in construing the Sentencing Guidelines. United States v. Werlinger, supra, 894 F.2d at 1018 n. 5. See also, United States v. Pazzanese, 982 F.2d 251 (8th Cir. 1992).

We thus affirm the ruling below that declines to apply the two-level enhancement for obstruction of justice where the defendant was unaware of the investigation when he made the culpable threat.