United States v. Carlton Wilfred Webster

Carlton Webster was arrested at Los An-geles Airport with two gallons of phencycli-dine (PCP) in his suitcase. A jury found Webster guilty of possession with intent to distribute PCP in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). At sentencing, Webster claimed he was only a courier and not a principal, and requested either a downward adjustment or a downward departure. The district court denied both.

I. Downward Departure.

Webster relies on United States v. Valdez-Gonzalez, 957 F.2d 643 (9th Cir.1992), which held a downward departure for a drug courier may be appropriate because “the [limited] role in the drug trade played-by ‘mules’ may constitute a mitigating circumstance of a kind or to a degree that the Sentencing Commission did not take into consideration in formulating the guidelines.” Id. at 650 . We noted, “[t]o a limited extent, the Guidelines take into account a defendant’s role in an offense by providing for a downward adjustment in offense level when a defendant is a minor or minimal participant,” id. at 647-48 (citing U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2) (emphasis in original), but that this adjustment was not available because the defendants “were the sole participants in the offenses to…