United States v. Spinks

Defendant pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base. On appeal, defendant challenged his sentence, contending that the district court erred in considering any 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors other than substantial assistance when determining the extent of his sentence reduction below the mandatory minimum. The court concluded that, following United States v. Hood, the district court correctly concluded that, once it had departed below a mandatory minimum sentence on the basis of a defendant's substantial assistance, it could not further depart based on any non-assistance factor. The court rejected defendant's arguments to the contrary. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Spinks" on Justia Law