United States v. David Brian Beaver

David Beaver appeals from his sentence, imposed following a guilty plea, for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1) and 846. Beaver contends that the district court erred by applying the plant-to-weight conversion table set forth in the United States Sentencing Guidelines because (1) the table conflicts with 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1)(B)(vii), and (2) because the Sentencing Commission ignored the mandate of 28 U.S.C. § 994 when promulgating the table and violated that statute by including immature plants in the sentence calculation.. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

We review de novo the legality of a sentence. United States v. Jordan, 964 F.2d 944, 946 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 478 , 121 L.Ed.2d 384 (1992).

Beaver was arrested in July 1991 after federal agents raided his marijuana growing site and seized several hundred plants and seedlings. At sentencing, Beaver contested both the number of plants and seedlings and the potential yield of the seedlings, arguing that the seedlings could never have yielded any salable marijuana because they would not have reached maturity by the end of the growing…