Rodriguez
United States v. Rodriguez
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Defendant Jerry Rodriguez appeals the 120-month sentence imposed by the distinct court following Rodriguez’s guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine or more than 500 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1) and 846. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm.
The district court’s estimate that Rodriguez obtained 7.95 kilograms of methamphetamine from co-conspirator Joseph Ponce over the course of the conspiracy (two ounces a week from June 2003 through April 2006) is supported “by a preponderance of the evidence through sufficiently reliable information” and appropriately “err[s] on the side caution.” United States v. Gonzalez, 528 F.3d 1207, 1214 (9th Cir.2008). The district court relied on Ponce’s testimony that he sold
*629 Rodriguez four ounces a week as the baseline for its calculation. See United States v. Alvarez, 358 F.3d 1194 (9th Cir.2004) (holding coeonspirator’s estimate of drug weight is sufficiently reliable if subject to cross-examination). The district court’s finding that Rodriguez’s one-ounce-a-month estimate was not…