United States Ninth Circuit

In defendants' convictions for importing methamphetamine, a district judge's imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence on one defendant is affirmed, but another district judge's imposition of a sentence below the mandatory minimum on a second defendant is vacated where: 1) a state court's order terminating a defendant's probation for a state offense "nunc pro tunc" as of the day before the defendant committed his federal crime cannot alter the fact that the defendant had the status of probationer when he committed his federal crime; and 2) the defendants remained ineligible for safety valve relief under 18 U.S.C. section 3553(f) from the mandatory minimum sentence because they were properly assessed two criminal history points pursuant to U.S.S.G. section 4A1.1(d) for committing the federal crimes while under any criminal justice sentence, including probation.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/20/2012
• Published 12/20/2012

Judges

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel