United States v. Freyermuth, No. 22-2814 (7th Cir. 2023)
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Freyermuth and five others were indicted for their involvement in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine. Freyermuth pleaded guilty to conspiring to both distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine and launder money. The PSR reported that Freyermuth—at his brother’s direction—received drug shipments, leased a storage unit to store the drugs, delivered the drugs to the regional dealers, collected money from the dealers, and sent that money to his brother The PSR concluded that Freyermuth was “integral” to the conspiracy, and a minor-role reduction was not warranted. Freyermuth argued that he was “essentially [his brother’s] drug mule,” uninvolved in decision-making and poorly compensated. Without the reduction, Freyermuth’s sentencing range was 262-327 months. A minor-role reduction would have lowered Freyermuth’s range to 135-68 months.
The district judge concluded that Freyermuth’s role was “multifaceted”: he stored the drugs “relatively independently,” maintained the inventory, delivered the drugs to the dealers and collected and laundered the conspiracy’s proceeds, which enhanced his knowledge of the conspiracy’s “scale.” The judge acknowledged that Freyermuth’s discretion was limited by his brother’s instructions but found that factor insufficient to justify a reduction. The Seventh Circuit affirmed his 102-month sentence. The judge adequately compared Freyermuth’s role to the average conspiracy member’s and applied the relevant guideline factors.
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