United States v. Commer Lee Mason

Commer Lee Mason (Mason) appeals from the sentence imposed following his plea of guilty to conspiring to distribute a substance containing a cocaine base. Mason contends that we must vacate the sentence . and remand this matter with directions that the district court resentence him in accordance with the facts set forth in the plea agreement, or allow him to withdraw his plea. We affirm because we conclude that the district court was not bound by the parties’ inaccurate stipulation regarding the amount of cocaine basé related to the conspiracy charge.

I.

On January 5, 1989, the grand jury returned an indictment that charged Mason and Byron Benito Spikes in Count I with conspiracy to distribute substances containing a cocaine base, and in Count II, with the distribution, of more than five grams of a substance containing a cocaine base on October 19, 1988. Spikes was separately charged with the distribution of a substance containing a cocaine base on October 28, 1988.

Mason entered a not guilty plea on January 13, 1989. Trial was scheduled for February 21, 1989. After the clerk called this matter for trial on February 21, 1989, the prosecutor informed the court as follows:

The…