United States v. Obaih
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED.
Defendant Lama appeals from the judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New
“In reviewing a district court’s imposition of sentence, we review factual findings for clear error and the court’s interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines de novo. ” United States v. Jeffers, 329 F.3d 94, 97-99, at *3 (2d Cir. 2003). The safety valve statute permits a sentencing court to impose a sentence below the normal statutory mandatory minimum when certain criteria are met. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) (2000); see also U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5C1.2 (2002) (incorporating the statutory criteria). As defendant concedes, he bore the burden of demonstrating by a preponderance of the evidence that he satisfied the five criteria set forth in the statute in order to receive safety valve relief. See United States v. Conde, 178 F.3d 616, 621 (2d Cir. 1999).
At issue here is the fifth of these criteria, which requires, in pertinent part, that “not later than the time of the sentencing hearing, the defendant has truthfully provided to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme or plan.” 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(5). In United States v. Schreiber, 191 F.3d 103, 107-08 (2d Cir. 1999), we held that under the plain terms of the statute and Guidelines, a defendant can “come clean” any time before the commencement of his sentencing hearing and still satisfy the fifth prong of the test. However, while earlier lies do not of themselves preclude safety valve eligibility, they may be relevant to the district court’s assessment of the credibility of the later, supposedly truthful statements. As we have noted, “[t]he fact that appellant repeatedly lied and obstructed justice prior to allegedly telling the complete truth will be useful in evaluating whether appellant’s final proffers were complete and truthful.” Schreiber, 191 F.3d at 109. Cf. Jeffers, 329 F.3d at 99 (observing that “prior perjurious acts may affect the defendant’s credibility and his corresponding ability to satisfy the safety valve’s truthful disclosure requirement”). Thus, “[a] court may, of course, consider the relevance of the prior perjury or other obstructive behavior in making a factual finding as to whether the defendant has made a complete and truthful proffer in compliance with § 3553(f)(5).” Id. at 99-100. See also Schreiber, 191 F.3d at 107 (noting that “as a practical matter, a defendant who changes his or her story to match the government’s evolving knowledge of the events risks irrevocably undermining his or her credibility”).
Upon review of the record, we find that the District Court correctly applied controlling law. The District Court specifically stated that, regardless whether the defendant had lied to the government at any of his initial three proffer sessions, if he had “told a credible version at the last [proffer session], had the government been convinced that at least [he was] telling the truth, [it] would have given [him] the safety valve consideration.” But after listening to defendant’s testimony and observing his deportment at the sentencing hearing, the District Court concluded that the defendant had willfully perjured himself at the sentencing hearing, providing “yet an
We have considered all of defendant’s arguments and find them to be without merit.
The judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Nancy OBAIH, Tasie LAMA, Defendant—Appellant
- Status
- Published