[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
FILED
________________________
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-15067
August 31, 2005
Non-Argument Calendar
THOMAS K. KAHN
________________________ CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 03-00058-CR-1-WS
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
MICHAEL DUANE MARLIN,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Alabama
_________________________
(August 31, 2005)
Before TJOFLAT, ANDERSON and DUBINA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Michael Duane Marlin appeals his 135-month sentence imposed following a
jury trial for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of
crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. On appeal, he raises two
arguments. First, he argues that the district court erred by denying his motion for a
2-level minor role reduction. Second, he argues, based upon United States v.
Booker, 543 U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 738, 756 (2005), that his sentence was
unreasonable because the penalties for possession of crack cocaine greatly and
unfairly exceed those for powder cocaine. Each of Marlin’s arguments are
considered in turn.
I.
A court’s finding regarding a defendant’s role in the offense is reviewed for
clear error. United States v. De Varon, 175 F.3d 930, 937 (11th Cir. 1999)
(en banc). Under the federal sentencing guidelines, a defendant may receive a
2-level reduction in his base offense level if his role in the offense can be described
as minor. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b). A “minor participant” is someone who is “less
culpable than most other participants, but whose role could not be described as
minimal.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, cmt. n.5. The defendant bears the burden of proving,
by a preponderance of the evidence, that his role was minor in comparison to the
other participants. De Varon, 175 F.3d at 939.
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We have stated, “ First and foremost, the district court must measure the
defendant's role against the relevant conduct for which she has been held
accountable.” Id. at 940. Marlin was held accountable for conspiracy to distribute
and possess more than 50 grams of crack cocaine. The evidence adduced at trial
showed that his actual conduct included participating in a conspiracy to possess
with intent to distribute over 50 grams of crack cocaine. Therefore, the relevant
conduct for which he was held accountable was identical to his actual conduct in
the offense, and his claim fails under the first prong. See De Varon, 175 F.3d at
941. The district court did not clearly err by concluding Marlin’s role was not
minor because, in addition to putting a confidential informant (“CI”) in contact
with a coconspirator, Russell Matthews, for the purpose of selling drugs, he also
attempted to act as an intermediary between the CI and Matthews in furtherance of
the conspiracy and sale. Finally, Marlin appears to argue on appeal that he was
less culpable than Matthews and another coconspirator, Terrance James. However,
while Marlin’s role in the entire drug sales operation might have been less than that
of Matthews and James, his role in the offense with which he was charged, as
noted, was not “minor.” See De Varon, 175 F.3d at 944.
II.
Because Marlin did not raise a Booker or Blakely challenge in the district
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court, we review his argument on appeal for plain error. United States v.
Rodriguez, 398 F.3d 1291, 1298 (11th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, (U.S. June 20,
2005) (No. 04-1148). In Rodriguez, we held for a defendant to satisfy plain error
analysis on a Booker claim, the defendant must show a “reasonable probability”
that he would have received a lesser sentence had the district court applied the
guidelines in an advisory, rather than a mandatory, manner. Id. at 1301.
Marlin cannot show a “reasonable probability” that he would have received
a lesser sentence had the district court applied the guidelines in an advisory, rather
than mandatory, manner. In this case, Marlin was sentenced to the low end of the
guideline range, and the court expressed satisfaction that “the sentence imposed
addresse[d] the seriousness of the offense and the sentencing objectives of
punishment, deterrence, and incapacitation.” The court did not indicate that
another sentence would have been more appropriate. We have held that the fact
that the defendant was sentenced to the bottom of the mandatory guideline range,
without more, is insufficient to satisfy the third prong’s requirement that the
defendant show a reasonable probability of a lesser sentence under an advisory
guideline system. United States v. Fields, 408 F.3d 1356, 1361 (11th Cir. 2005).
Accordingly, he cannot show that his substantial rights were affected by mandatory
application of the guidelines, and thus, he cannot satisfy the plain error analysis we
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announced in Rodriguez, 398 F.3d. at 1301.
Marlin cites no authority for his argument that his sentence was
unreasonable due to the disparity between punishment for crack and powder
cocaine offenses. We have upheld the constitutionality of sentence for crack
cocaine offenses, and noted that the court system is the inappropriate avenue to
effect a change in the disparity in punishment for powder and crack cocaine
crimes. See United States v. Hanna, 153 F.3d 1286, 1288-89 (11th Cir. 1998).
The district court cannot be considered unreasonable for imposing the sentence that
Congress intended for the crime of conviction. Id.
For the foregoing reasons, Marlin’s sentence is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
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