F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
MAY 20 2005
TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v. No. 04-2043
(D. New Mexico)
JULIO ARMANDO REYNAGA- (D.Ct. No. CR-03-218-JC)
CORTES,
Defendant - Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before SEYMOUR, LUCERO, and O’BRIEN, Circuit Judges.
Julio Reynaga-Cortes pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute 100
kilograms or more of marijuana and aiding and abetting possession with intent to
distribute. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B); 18 U.S.C. § 2. He
sought and was denied a downward adjustment based on the safety valve
provision, United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, §5C1.2
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent except under the doctrines of
law of the case, res judicata and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the
citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under
the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
(Nov. 2003). 1 The Government argued Reynaga-Cortes twice was untruthful
“about aspects of what he was saying” during his debriefing and “ultimately he
indicated that he was fearful of the other people involved, and did not want to talk
about the co-defendants.” (Appellant Br. Att. B at 2.) The district court found
Reynaga-Cortes did not provide the information necessary to qualify for the
adjustment. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742, we affirm.
On appeal, retained counsel, pursuant to Anders v. State of California,
submitted a brief and seeks to withdraw asserting there are no grounds to
challenge the district court’s denial of a downward adjustment and there exists no
other non-frivolous issues for appeal. 386 U.S. 738 (1967). Under Anders, we
must conduct “a full examination of all the proceedings, to decide whether the
case is wholly frivolous.” Id. at 744. After carefully reviewing the record, we
find the district court did not err in denying the downward adjustment and no non-
frivolous issues exist. 2
In addition to the Anders brief, Reynaga-Cortes filed a pro se letter in
1
USSG §5C1.2 authorizes the district court to impose a sentence according to the
guidelines without regard to a statutory minimum sentence if the court finds the defendant
meets certain qualifications. One of the qualifications provides that the defendant, not
later than the time of the sentencing hearing, truthfully provides all information related to
the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct. See USSG
§5C1.2(a)(5).
2
The recent Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Booker, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 738
(2005), does not impact the safety valve provision. United States v. Payton, 2005 WL
1030462 (10th Cir., May 4, 2005).
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which he asks for a second chance. However, he raises no cogent argument or
legal authority regarding the actions of the district court.
Counsel’s request to withdraw is GRANTED and the judgement and
sentence are AFFIRMED.
Entered by the Court:
Terrence L. O’Brien
United States Circuit Judge
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