United States v. Richard Lee Muschik

Following the Ninth Circuit’s remand, Richard Lee Muschik was resentenced on December 6,1993, to a prison term of twenty years pursuant to the mandatory minimum sentence set forth in 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1)(A). Muschik had been earlier found guilty of escape in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 751 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute lysergic acid diethylamide (“LSD”) in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1) and 846. In his appeal, Muschik argues that the district court erroneously concluded that ten grams or more of LSD were involved in this case. Muschik contends that the entire weight of the carrier medium should not be included when the weight of LSD is calculated. Instead, Muschik argues that the formula set forth in the November 1, 1993 amendment to U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(c) should be used to determine the net weight of LSD involved for sentencing purposes. For the reasons given below, we vacate the sentence imposed by the district court and remand for resen-tencing in accordance with this opinion.

I.

BACKGROUND

Richard Lee Muschik was arrested on May 24,1991, by the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) pursuant to a Complaint charging him with conspiracy to possess with…