Filed: Apr. 20, 2006
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: F I L E D United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 20, 2006 TENTH CIRCUIT Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff-Appellee, No. 05-1244 v. (D. Colorado) JORGE LAZARO-BAEZ, (D.C. No. 04-CR-49-D) Defendant-Appellant. ORDER AND JUDGMENT * Before HENRY, BRISCOE, and O’BRIEN, Circuit Judges. ** Jorge Lazaro-Baez pleaded guilty to one count of possessing more than 500 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine with the inten
Summary: F I L E D United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 20, 2006 TENTH CIRCUIT Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff-Appellee, No. 05-1244 v. (D. Colorado) JORGE LAZARO-BAEZ, (D.C. No. 04-CR-49-D) Defendant-Appellant. ORDER AND JUDGMENT * Before HENRY, BRISCOE, and O’BRIEN, Circuit Judges. ** Jorge Lazaro-Baez pleaded guilty to one count of possessing more than 500 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine with the intent..
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F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
April 20, 2006
TENTH CIRCUIT Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff-Appellee, No. 05-1244
v. (D. Colorado)
JORGE LAZARO-BAEZ, (D.C. No. 04-CR-49-D)
Defendant-Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before HENRY, BRISCOE, and O’BRIEN, Circuit Judges. **
Jorge Lazaro-Baez pleaded guilty to one count of possessing more than 500
grams of a substance containing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, a
violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). The district court sentenced him
to 120 months’ imprisonment. On appeal, Mr. Lazaro-Baez argues that the
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10 TH C IR . R. 36.3.
**
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of
this appeal. See F ED . R. A PP . P. 34( A )(2); 10 TH C IR . R. 34.1(G). The case is
therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
district court erred in refusing to impose a lesser sentence pursuant to the safety-
valve provision of the United States Sentencing Guidelines, § USSG § 5C1.2. We
disagree and therefore affirm Mr. Lazaro-Baez’s sentence.
I. BACKGROUND
On January 3, 2003, Mr. Lazaro-Baez was arrested in Mesa County,
Colorado after law enforcement agents discovered approximately three pounds of
methamphetamine in his car. During an interview on that same day, Mr. Lazaro-
Baez told the agents that he had come to Mesa County to deliver the
methamphetamine to a woman named Mary. He said that he had provided
methamphetamine to Mary on two or three prior occasions. He further explained
that on January 3rd, he had met with Mary but did not give her the
methamphetamine because a man that he did not know had accompanied her. He
told the agents that he did not know Mary’s last name.
After a grand jury indicted him, Mr. Lazaro-Baez and the government
entered into a plea agreement under which, in exchange for his guilty plea to the §
841 charge, the government agreed not to file other charges and to move for a
three-level reduction in the offense level based upon an acceptance of
responsibility. Mr. Lazaro-Baez agreed that “[i]f he [was] otherwise eligible for
the ‘Safety Valve’ reduction, [he would] debrief [the government] in accordance
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with its requirements.” Rec. vol. I, doc. 50, at 2 (Plea Agreement and Statement
of Facts Relevant to Sentencing, filed Oct. 26, 2004).
During the change of plea proceedings, the district court questioned Mr.
Lazaro-Baez about the methamphetamine transaction. See Rec. vol. II, at 10-14.
Mr. Lazaro-Baez reported that he had received a telephone call from a woman
who had instructed him to pick up the methamphetamine near a gas station about
ten miles from the location where he had been arrested, deliver it to Mary, and
keep $500. He stated that he did not know the name of the woman, but she had
told him that she was connected to man who had called Mr. Lazaro-Baez three
years ago and who had recruited him to work as a drug courier. Mr. Lazaro-Baez
told the court that he did not know the name of that man either.
The United States Probation Office filed a presentence report that provided
the district court with additional information about Mr. Lazaro-Baez’s post-arrest
interview with law enforcement agents. According to the presentence report, Mr.
Lazaro-Baez had “declined to identify the source of the methamphetamine seized
from his vehicle and explained that he ‘would rather do sixteen years in prison
than be killed by people from the organization he worked for.’” Rec. vol. IV, at 4
¶ 9.
Mr Lazaro-Baez then filed a motion seeking a reduction in his sentence
pursuant to the § 5C1.2 safety-valve provision without any further debriefing of
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the government. At sentencing, the court denied that request, concluding that Mr.
Lazaro-Baez was not entitled to a reduction in his sentence:
On the record before me, I find that the motion to apply
the safety-valve reduction without requiring additional
debriefing should be denied; and the reason is 5C1.2, at a
minimum, requires that not later than the time of the
sentencing hearing, the defendant has truthfully provided
to the government all information and evidence the
defendant has concerning the offense or offenses that were
part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme
or plan. And the defendant simply hasn’t done that. He
made it affirmatively clear that there was certain
information that he would not reveal about those in the
organization with whom he was affiliated because he was
fearful of his safety. And then when the Court pressed
him at the change-of-plea hearing about the details of what
actually happened, his answers were at best evasive, and
they were not comprehensive and complete.
Rec. vol. III, at 11-12. The court sentenced Mr. Lazaro-Baez to 120 months’
incarceration.
II. DISCUSSION
Mr. Lazaro-Baez now argues the district court erred in refusing to grant
him the safety-valve reduction. He maintains that he provided the government
with all the information he knew about the methamphetamine distribution scheme
in which he was involved. “We review for clear error the district court’s decision
that relief under § 5C1.2 is permissible, giving due deference to the district
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court’s application of the Sentencing Guidelines to the facts.” United States v.
Zavala-Rodriguez, 379 F.3d 1182, 1184 (10th Cir. 2004).
USSG § 5C1.2 provides that:
in the case of an offense under 21 U.S.C. § 841 . . . , the
court shall impose a sentence in accordance with the
applicable guidelines without regard to any statutory
minimum sentence, if the court finds that the defendant
meets the criteria in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(1)-(5) set forth
below:
(1) The defendant does not have more than 1 criminal
history point, as determined under the sentencing
guidelines before application of subsection (b) of 4A1.3
(Departures Based on Inadequacy of Criminal History
Category);
(2) The defendant did not use violence or credible threats
of violence or possess a firearm or other dangerous
weapon (or induce another participant to do so) in
connection with the offense;
(3) The offense did not result in death or serious bodily
injury to any person;
(4) The defendant was not an organizer, leader, manager,
or supervisor of others in the offense, as determined under
the sentencing guidelines and was not engaged in a
continuing criminal enterprise, as defined in 21 U.S.C. §
848; and
(5) Not later than the time of the sentencing hearing, the
defendant has truthfully provided to the Government all
information and evidence the defendant has concerning the
offense or offenses that were part of the same course of
conduct or of a common scheme or plan, but the fact that
the defendant has no relevant or useful other information
to provide or that the Government is already aware of the
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information shall not preclude a determination by the court
that the defendant has complied with this requirement.
(emphasis added)
Under § 5C1.2, the burden is on the defendant to prove that he is entitled to
a sentence reduction. United States v. Salazar-Samaniega, 361 F.3d 1271, 1277
(10th Cir. 2004). Here, the government does not dispute that Mr. Lazaro-Baez
has established the first four requirements set forth in the guideline. Thus, only
subsection 5 is at issue.
As to that provision, we have held that the defendant must disclose
“everything he knows about his own actions and those of his coconspirators.”
United States v. Acosta-Olivas, 71 F.3d 375, 378 (10th Cir. 1995). He must
“provide information that is not merely truthful but also complete.” Salazar-
Samaniega, 361 F.3d at 1277. “We cannot see how absent highly unusual
circumstances a defendant who fails to completely answer questions pertaining to
the scheme in which he was involved can be found to have disclosed everything
he knew about his own actions and those of his co-conspirators.”
Id.
Upon review of the record, we discern no clear error in the district court’s
decision. At the change of plea proceeding, the district court questioned Mr.
Lazaro-Baez about the methamphetamine scheme. The court found at sentencing
that Mr. Lazaro-Baez’s answers were “at best evasive and they were not
comprehensive and complete.” Rec. vol. III, at 12. The record supports that
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finding. Mr. Lazaro-Baez’s statements that he did not know the names of the
people who asked him to deliver methamphetamine appear implausible.
Moreover, the presentence report’s account of Mr. Lazaro-Baez’s interview with
law enforcement agents permits the inference that he was withholding
information.
III. CONCLUSION
Accordingly, we AFFIRM Mr. Lazaro-Baez’s sentence.
Entered for the Court,
Robert H. Henry
United States Circuit Judge
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