United States v. Douglas Sharp

The government’s appeal from the sentence imposed on Douglas Sharp requires us to determine whether a district court may justify a sentence below the minimum established by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 by relying upon mitigating circumstances sufficient to justify a sentence below the minimum established by the United States Sentencing Guidelines. We hold that it may not, and therefore vacate Sharp’s sentence and remand for resentenc-ing.

I.

Sharp was convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy and one count of possession with intent to distribute 4,985 grams of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and § 841(a), respectively. When Sharp was sentenced in May 1988, both the sentencing guidelines and the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions of section 841, as amended by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, Pub.L. 99-570, 100 Stat. 3207, 3207-3 to 3207-4 (1986), were in effect.

Given the nature of Sharp’s offense and his criminal history, the guidelines prescribed a sentencing range of 97 to 121 months. Section 841(b)(1)(B), which sets the sentences for convictions under both section 841 and section 846, mandated a minimum sentence of 60 months and a maximum of 480 months…