United States v. Solis, No. 11-30390 (5th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride. The Government subsequently appealed the district court's sentence of defendant below the mandatory minimum sentence for his offense pursuant to the safety valve. The court concluded that the 2002 Edition of the Guidelines Manual was not ambiguous with respect to whether departures pursuant to section 4A1.3 were to be considered when evaluating safety valve eligibility. The court also concluded that the 2002 Edition of the Guidelines Manual did not permit district courts to consider departures pursuant to section 4A1.3 when evaluating a defendant's safety valve eligibility. As the applicable guidelines were ambiguous, the rule of lenity did not apply. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment, vacated the sentence, and remanded for resentencing.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.