United States v. James Russell Crook

The United States appeals the district court’s downward departure in sentencing James Russell Crook after a plea of guilty to manufacturing 751 marijuana plants, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). The district court departed one level based on its finding that Crook believed he was growing the plants for personal use, and one level because Crook lost his family home in civil forfeiture proceedings. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we hold that the district court incorrectly relied on forfeiture as a ground for departure and clearly erred in finding that Crook manufactured more than 700 marijuana plants for personal use. ' Accordingly, we vacate Crook’s sentence and remand for resentenc-ing.

I

On April 16, 1991, drug enforcement agents searched Crook’s house in Orange-vale, California pursuant to a search warrant and found 388 marijuana seedlings in a locked room in the garage. The search also disclosed plant cultivation paraphernalia, a plastic bag sealing machine, and a map of the Sacramento River Delta. Edwin Ervin, Crook’s stepson, was there at the time and escorted the agents to a wetlands site near the Sacramento River,…