990 F. 2d 1262 - United States v. Guzman

MEMORANDUM**

Edilberto Guzman appeals his sentence imposed under the Sentencing Guidelines, following his guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He contends that the district court erred by not granting a downward adjustment of his offense level due to his minor role in the offense. We reject this contention and affirm.

The Sentencing Guidelines provide for a two-level reduction when the defendant is determined to be a minor participant. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b). A district court's finding that a defendant does not qualify for minor participant status is heavily dependent upon the facts of the particular case and will be upheld unless clearly erroneous. United States v. Andrus, 925 F.2d 335, 337 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 112 S.Ct. 249 (1991).

Guzman contends that he played a minor role in the conspiracy and was substantially less involved than others. Merely being less culpable than one's co-participants does not automatically result in minor or minimal status. Id. at 338. The record shows that Guzman and his sister posed as a married couple and lived at a house used for cocaine distribution and were to be paid $5,000 per month, that Guzman stored large quantities of cocaine at the house, unloaded cocaine into the house on several occasions, repackaged and assisted in counting cocaine, loaded cocaine into delivery vehicles and assisted in delivering cocaine. We conclude that the district court's refusal to grant the two-level adjustment was not clearly erroneous.

AFFIRMED.