USA V. DANIEL VINGE, No. 22-10300 (9th Cir. 2023)
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Defendant participated in a drug distribution operation in Hawaii and charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin. On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court should not have applied the leader-or-organizer enhancement under Section 3B1.1(c) of the Sentencing Guidelines because no evidence suggests that he “exercised control over others” in the organization.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed, finding that the level of control required to be an organizer is only “the ability and influence necessary to coordinate the activities of others to achieve the desired result.” United States v. Doe, 778 F.3d 814, 824 (9th Cir. 2015).
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel affirmed a sentence for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in a case in which Daniel Vinge argued that the district court should not have applied the leader-or-organizer enhancement under Section 3B1.1(c) of the Sentencing Guidelines because no evidence suggests that he “exercised control over others” in the organization.
Because recent cases have not been entirely clear with respect to the distinction between an organizer and a leader under § 3B1.1(c), the panel reiterated that the level of control required to be an organizer is only “the ability and influence necessary to coordinate the activities of others to achieve the desired result.” Applying that understanding, the panel held that the facts in the presentence report adopted by the district court more than support the enhancement’s application here.
The panel held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing a longer sentence on Vinge than his coconspirator, as the two were not similarly situated.
The panel wrote that Vinge’s challenge to a supervised release condition restricting him from interacting with felons is not yet ripe. The panel thus affirmed the sentence without prejudice as to the challenged condition such that Vinge may raise the argument again by asking the district court to modify the condition when the issue is no longer speculative.
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