UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Angelo REDMOND, Defendant-Appellant

Appellant Angelo Redmond seeks review of the district court’s order on remand from this court revoking his probation and sentencing him to thirty-three months imprisonment. On June 9, 1992, a grand jury in the District of Oregon returned an indictment against Angelo Redmond and two other individuals. As part of an agreement with the government, Redmond pleaded guilty to one count in the indictment, which charged that he had knowingly distributed a substance containing cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1).

The government, in turn, recommended that in sentencing Redmond, the district court depart downward from the thirty-three to forty-one month prison sentence prescribed by the sentencing guidelines and instead impose a sentence of probation because of Redmond’s “extraordinary physical impairment.” Redmond suffers from sarcoido-sis, a disease which has caused the collapse of one of his lungs, leading to generalized weakness and fatigue. Although the Presen-tence Report concluded that Redmond’s medical condition is not serious enough to warrant downward departure, the district court followed the recommendation of the government, departing downward because of…