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Government Breach of Plea Agreement is Plain Error Requiring Reversal

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Dawson: Dawson was charged with conspiracy to distribute crack and powder cocaine. He entered into a plea agreement in which the Government agreed to recommend that Dawson receive a two-level offense level reduction for his minor role in the conspiracy. The parties agreed that the final determination of the issue was left to the district court and that the terms of the plea agreement did not bind the court at sentencing. The PSR did not include the reduction and neither party objected to its absence. At sentencing, Dawson did not argue for a reduction, but did argue for a sentence reflecting the fact that he was not a leader or organizer of the conspiracy. The Government countered that he was "critical" to the conspiracy. The district court sentenced Dawson to 70 months in prison, the bottom of the Guideline range calculated without a minor role reduction...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on December 08, 2009 (boomark / email).