U.S. v. Melendez

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing one defendant to 135-month term of incarceration on drug conspiracy charge, where said sentence was based, in part, on finding that defendant was liable for between 2 and 10 kilograms of heroin jointly purchased with co-defendant. Drug quantity amount was based on defendant’s own admissions, and Dist. Ct. could properly find that defendant was accountable for all of jointly purchased heroin, where defendant introduced co-defendant to drug supplier, polled his money with co-defendant to obtain discounted rate on heroin and traveled with co-defendant to weigh and divide jointly purchased heroin. Fact that co-defendant distributed his share of heroin through separate business was immaterial. Dist. Ct. also did not err in sentencing third defendant to 80-month term of incarceration, even though said defendant argued that her within-guideline range sentence was unreasonable given her reduced life expectancy and health issues. Record showed that defendant’s sentence, reduced by good-time credits, fell below her 90-month life expectancy, and Dist. Ct. was not required to impose below-guideline range sentence simply because defendant had health issues. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could properly find that defendant had history of violations of pre-trial release conditions, even though defendant never received any sanctions for said violations.