United States v. Figueroa-Labrada, No. 13-6278 (10th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury convicted defendant-appellant Jesus Figueroa-Labrada of conspiring to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute, the district court attributed to Figueroa 746.19 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine (the total amount of methamphetamine involved in the conspiracy) and sentenced him to 120 months' imprisonment. On direct appeal, a panel of the Tenth Circuit reversed his sentence and remanded for resentencing based on the district court's failure to make particularized findings to support attributing the total quantity to Figueroa. In doing so, the panel noted that it was "reasonably probable" that only 56.7 grams of the methamphetamine mixture could be attributed to Figueroa based on his participation in the conspiracy. Figueroa appealed he district court's denial of his request for a reduced sentence under the "safety-valve" provision of 18 U.S.C. 3553(f). The district court held section 3553(f) did not apply because Figueroa failed to make the disclosures necessary to support a reduced sentence before his initial sentencing hearing. After review, the Tenth Circuit disagreed with the district court's interpretation of section 3553(f), concluding that when a defendant provides information to the government for the first time on remand, but before the resentencing hearing, the plain text of the statute required the district court to consider that information in determining whether the defendant has satisfied 3553(f). Because the district court here failed to do so, its judgment was reversed and the case remanded for the district court to determine Figueroa's eligibility for a safety-valve sentence.
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