United States v. Jackie Lee

The district court committed three significant errors at Jackie Yong Lee’s sentencing. First, the court failed to use the Guidelines as a starting point. Instead, it determined the sentence it desired to impose and then decided the extent of the Guidelines reduction to be afforded, in order to make the sentence fit within the Guidelines. This was the converse procedure to that which it was required to follow. Second, it incorrectly calculated the Guidelines range when it held that Lee pled guilty to transporting methamphetamine that was 80 percent pure. Third, it failed to determine a revised minimum sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (e), a determination that it was required to make in this case. For these reasons, we vacate and remand for resentencing. We also address Lee’s other arguments on appeal, because the issues are likely to arise again at resentencing.

I.

The details of Jackie Yong Lee’s crime and her involvement in the Ichihara drug network are neither relevant to this appeal nor clear from the record before us. We therefore set forth only a brief summary of Lee’s criminal conduct. Richard Ichihara was in charge of a large-scale methamphetamine distribution…