USA Vcardenas-Juarez

I. BACKGROUND

On July 17, 2004, after being stopped by the Montana Highway Patrol for speeding on United States Highway 2 near Havre, Montana, Cardenas-Juarez was arrested for pos- session of cocaine. On October 26, 2004, a grand jury in the District of Montana handed down an indictment charging him with possession of 500 or more grams of cocaine with the intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Cardenas-Juarez initially entered a plea of not guilty but later changed his plea to guilty.

At Cardenas-Juarez’s sentencing hearing, the district court advised counsel that it did not think it could apply 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), the statutory safety valve exception to the manda- tory minimum sentence, without concluding that the safety valve provision required sentencing within the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines (“Sentencing Guidelines” or “Guidelines”), which it understood would be a direct viola- tion of the Supreme Court’s decision in Booker. The court, therefore, gave counsel five days in which to file briefs addressing the safety valve issue under Booker. UNITED STATES v. CARDENAS-JUAREZ 19313 After counsel for both parties filed briefs…