US v. Ofelia Rodriguez-Ornela, No. 11-4616 (4th Cir. 2011)

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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 11-4616 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. OFELIA RODRIGUEZ-ORNELAS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Spartanburg. J. Michelle Childs, District Judge. (7:10-cr-00991-JMC-1) Submitted: November 7, 2011 Decided: December 6, 2011 Before KING and KEENAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Lora E. Collins, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellant. William N. Nettles, United States Attorney, Andrew B. Moorman, Sr., Assistant United States Attorney, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Ofelia Rodriguez-Ornelas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A) (2006). The district court sentenced Rodriguez-Ornelas to the statutory mandatory minimum of 120 months imprisonment, and she now appeals. Finding no reversible error, we affirm. On appeal, Rodriguez-Ornelas argues that the district court erred in determining that she was ineligible for application of the safety valve provision under the Sentencing Guidelines. under the In reviewing Guidelines, we the district review the court s district calculations court's legal conclusions de novo and its factual findings for clear error. United States v. Manigan, 592 F.3d 621, 626 (4th Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). We will find clear error only if, on the entire evidence, [we are] left with the definite committed. and firm conviction that a mistake has been Id. at 631 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). To qualify for the safety valve provision and a sentence below the statutorily required mandatory minimum, the defendant must establish that (1) he does not have more than one criminal history point; (2) he did not use violence or possess a firearm in connection with the offense; (3) the offense did not 2 result in death or serious bodily injury; (4) he was not an organizer, offense; leader, and truthfully (5) manager, no or later provided the supervisor than of sentencing, he with government others time the of in the all evidence and information he had concerning the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme or plan. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) (2006); U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5C1.2 (2010). The defendant bears the burden of proving that all five safety valve requirements have been met. United 1996). all States v. Beltran Ortiz, 91 F.3d 665, 669 (4th Cir. The requirement that the defendant truthfully provide information obligates concerning defendants to the offense demonstrate, to the through government affirmative conduct, that they have supplied truthful information to the Government. United States v. Ivester, 75 F.3d 182, 185 (4th Cir. 1996). The district court determined that Rodriguez-Ornelas failed to provide truthful regarding the offense. information to the Government Having reviewed the record, we conclude that this finding was not clearly erroneous. affirm the district court s judgment. Accordingly, we We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately 3 presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED 4

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