United States v. Daniel Yoshimoto

MEMORANDUM

Daniel Yoshimoto appeals the sentence of 27 months imprisonment imposed following his guilty plea to violations of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846. We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3742 and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm the sentence imposed by the district court.

1. A “district court may not ... consider factors unrelated to the defendant’s assistance” when fixing a downward departure for substantial assistance pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (e). United States v. Auld, 321 F.3d 861, 867 (9th Cir.2003). We have explained that “[w]hen the district court grants a waiver of the mandatory minimum pursuant to § 3553(e), the departure establishes the new minimum sentence for the defendant, and the court may not reduce the sentence further on the basis of the § 3553(a) factors.” United States v. Jackson, 577 F.3d 1032, 1036 (9th Cir.2009). Thus, the district court did not err by considering Yoshimoto’s rehabilitation evidence only in the context of how it factored into Yoshimoto’s substantial assistance pursuant to § 3553(e).

The discussion of 18 U.S.C. §§ 3661 and 3553(a) in Pepper v. United States, - U.S.-, 131 S.Ct. 1229 , 179 L.Ed.2d 196 (2011), does not invalidate our…