United States v. Juan Humberto Tzoc-Sierra

The United States appeals the sentence imposed on Juan Humberto Tzoc-Sierra following his guilty plea to conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). The government argues that the district court erred by granting a downward departure based in part on factors forbidden by the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“U.S.S.G.”). Applying the new standard of review mandated by the “PROTECT” Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3742 , we conclude that the downward departure was justified by the disparity between Tzoc-Sierra’s sentence and that of his co-defendants. We therefore affirm the sentence.

I. Background

Tzoc-Sierra and his co-defendants were arrested during a cocaine sale at a car wash. AJI were indicted for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1) and (b)(l)(B)(ii)(II). Tzoc-Si-erra pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge.

The Probation Office prepared a Presen-tence Investigation Report, which calculated Tzoc-Sierra’s base offense level at 28. It then reduced that figure by two levels for meeting the “safety valve” criteria, pursuant…