United States v. Jeff Harris, No. 21-3130 (8th Cir. 2022)
Annotate this Case
Defendant sold capsules of heroin that contained fentanyl to a confidential source in the St. Louis metro area. A superseding indictment charged Defendant with conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl between June 2017 and May 2019, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and distribution of fentanyl in August 2019 resulting in death. Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
At sentencing, adopting the presentence investigation report (PSR) without objection, the district court1 determined an advisory guidelines sentencing range of 15-21 months’ imprisonment, granted the government’s motion for an upward departure, and sentenced Defendant to 70 months imprisonment. Defendant appeals, arguing the court erred in granting an upward departure based primarily on Defendant’s role in the August 2019 fentanyl overdose death.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court explained that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the agent’s testimony, to the extent it included hearsay, bore sufficient indicia of reliability to support its use in sentencing Defendant. Accordingly, the court did not clearly err in finding that the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that a death resulted from Defendant’s conduct and then granting the government’s motion for an upward departure. Departing upward, the court imposed a sentence of 70 months imprisonment. This sentence is consistent with upward departures the court has approved under Section 5K2.1 for drug distribution conduct that resulted in an overdose death.
Court Description: [Loken, Author, with Kelly and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. The district court did not err by granting the government's motion for an upward departure pursuant to Guidelines Sections 5K2.1 and 5K2.0 where defendant distributed fentanyl resulting in death; the sentencing record was sufficient for the court to find the investigating officer's testimony, to the extent it included hearsay, bore sufficient indicia of reliability to support its use in sentencing defendant, and the court did not clearly err in finding the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that a death resulted from defendant's conduct; the sentence is consistent with upward departures this court has approved under Sec. 5K2.1 for drug distribution resulting in an overdose.
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.