Facts admitted by defendant during sentencing may be used to determine guideline range despite not being proved to jury beyond reasonable doubt
SENTENCING United States v. Glover, No. 04-5150, ___ F.3d ___ (10th Cir. Jul. 1, 2005)(N.D. Oklahoma). Appeal of sentence for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. HELD: (1) Guilty plea subjects defendant to fact-finding by judge rather than jury. Therefore, where defendant pled guilty and judge-found sentencing facts used to support upward sentence adjustments were based on defendant’s own admissions made during sentencing proceeding, there is no Booker Sixth Amendment error. (2) District court’s mandatory application of sentencing guidelines in violation of Booker was harmless error where district court judge (a) sentenced defendant near top of guidelines range; (b) based sentence enhancements on defendant’s admitted conduct; and (c) commented that sentence at higher end of guideline range was warranted in light of defendant’s criminal history and threat posed to community. Read the opinion here. |
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