United States v. Hester , 199 F.3d 1287 ( 2000 )

[PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ AUGUST 9, 2001
THOMAS K. KAHN
No. 97-9232 CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 93-00007-3-CR-DF
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
SAMUEL J. HESTER,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Georgia
_________________________
(August 9, 2001)
ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Before BLACK, WILSON and RONEY, Circuit Judges.
BLACK, Circuit Judge:
On April 15, 1994, a jury convicted Appellant Samuel Hester of conspiracy
to manufacture, possess with intent to distribute, and distribute marijuana;
manufacture of marijuana; distribution of marijuana; possession with intent to
distribute marijuana; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The
Government filed an information pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §851, seeking to enhance
Appellant's sentence based on Appellant's prior Georgia state conviction for the
sale of marijuana. When Appellant was originally sentenced, the district court, by
a preponderance of the evidence, found him responsible for 2,924 marijuana plants.
United States Sentencing Guidelines § 2D1.1(c)(4), as then in effect, instructed the
district court to impose an equivalency of one kilogram per plant for an offense
involving more than 50 plants. This calculation produced a Guideline range of 240
to 262 months' imprisonment. The district court sentenced Appellant to 262
months' imprisonment.
Appellant filed a notice of appeal on February 10, 1995. Effective
November 1, 1995, the Sentencing Commission added Amendment 516 to the
Guidelines. Amendment 516 changed the weight calculation applicable to
marijuana plants and instructed district courts to use a standard of 100 grams per
plant (or the actual weight of the plant if higher) regardless of the number of plants
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involved in the offense.1 Amendment 516 applies retroactively. Accordingly, this
Court affirmed Appellant's conviction, but remanded for resentencing in light of
Amendment 516. See United States v. Hester, 199 F.3d 1287, 1298 (11th Cir.
2000).
On remand, on July 5, 1996, the district court observed that application of
Amendment 516 reduced Appellant’s Guideline range to 108 to 135 months'
imprisonment. The court also noted, however, that 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(vii)
provided a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years for a drug amount
in excess of 1,000 plants combined with a prior conviction. The district court
therefore sentenced Appellant to 20 years' imprisonment.
On appeal, we rejected Appellant's argument that the number of marijuana
plants constituted "an element of his offense which the Government failed to prove
beyond a reasonable doubt."2 Hester, 199 F.3d at 1291. The Supreme Court
subsequently decided Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348
(2000), declaring that “[o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that
1
The Amendment reveals that the Sentencing commission believed that 100
grams per plant better reflected the true weight of marijuana plants.
2
We first held that “Amendment 516 did not render the sentencing regime
unconstitutional.” 199 F.3d at 1290. The Supreme Court's remand does not
require us to reconsider that aspect of our holding.
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increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must
be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” 530 U.S. at 490,
120 S. Ct. at 2362-63. The Supreme Court later granted Appellant's petition for
certiorari, vacated our opinion in this case, and remanded it to us for further
consideration in light of Apprendi. Hester v. United States, 121 S. Ct. 336 (2000).
We now vacate Appellant’s sentence and remand to the district court for
resentencing in light of Apprendi.
VACATED AND REMANDED.
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