United States v. Martinez-Morfin, No. 05-3315 (8th Cir. 2006)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Criminal case - Sentencing. Defendant's own admissions showed he was deeply involved in the drug conspiracy, and the district court did not err in denying his request for a minor role reduction.
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United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 05-3315 ___________ United States of America, Appellee, v. Lucio Martinez-Morfin, Appellant. * * * * Appeal from the United States * District Court for the * Southern District of Iowa. * * [UNPUBLISHED] * ___________ Submitted: October 4, 2006 Filed: October 18, 2006 ___________ Before SMITH, MAGILL, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. Lucio Martinez-Morfin appeals the 120-month prison sentence imposed by the district court1 after Morfin pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine mixture, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 846. On appeal, Morfin argues the district court erred in not applying a minor-role reduction under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 because it did not correctly compare Morfin s actions with those of a co-defendant who received a minor-role reduction. 1 The Honorable James E. Gritzner, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. The district court did not clearly err in denying the minor role reduction because Morfin s admitted knowledge of the drug-transportation and distribution plans showed that he was deeply involved in the conspiracy. See United States v. Bustos-Torres, 396 F.3d 935, 947-48 (8th Cir.) (district court s factual determination of defendant s role in offense may be reversed only if it is clearly erroneous, and it is defendant s burden to prove role reduction is warranted), cert. denied, 125 S. Ct. 2557 (2005) and 126 S. Ct. 203 (2005); United States v. Bush, 352 F.3d 1177, 1182 (8th Cir. 2003) (showing defendant is less culpable than other defendants is not enough to entitle defendant to minor-role adjustment if defendant was deeply involved in offense); United States v. Goebel, 898 F.2d 675, 678 (8th Cir. 1990) (recognizing significant role that distributors play in criminal drug activity). Accordingly, we affirm. ______________________________ -2-
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