United States v. Paul Ono, United States of America v. Benjamin Langshaw

For the second time, Appellants Paul Ono and Benjamin Langshaw appeal their sentences imposed after being convicted for conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance analogue and procuring the manufacture of a controlled substance analogue. In the Ono appeal we are now presented with a question left open in Ono’s earlier appeal and relating to reliance on the potency of the drug for sentencing purposes. United States v. Ono, 918 F.2d 1462 (9th Cir.1990) (“Ono I”). We affirm the sentences as to both appellants.

Both convictions were based on the appellants’ scheme to produce a designer drug known as OPP/PPP, which is chemically similar to heroin but more powerful. OPP/PPP is not a listed drug in the Sentencing Guidelines. The chemical analogue drug that is listed in the drug equivalency tables of the Guidelines is MPPP, although evidence in the record indicates that OPP/PPP is more potent than MPPP. Id. at 1466 .

The Ono Appeal

We reversed Ono’s original 240-month sentence because we held that the district court improperly used a multiplying factor to calculate the base offense level. Id. The multiplier was based on the potency of OPP/ PPP in relation to MPPP. We held that…