United States v. Villalona

Opinions of the United
2005 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
7-14-2005
USA v. Villalona
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 04-3426
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Recommended Citation
"USA v. Villalona" (2005). 2005 Decisions. Paper 846.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2005/846
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
____________
No. 04-3426
____________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
EDWIN VILLALONA,
Appellant
____________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey
(D.C. No. 03-cr-00718)
District Judge: Honorable Joel A. Pisano
____________
Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
June 30, 2005
Before: NYGAARD, SMITH and FISHER, Circuit Judges.
(Filed July 14, 2005)
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OPINION OF THE COURT
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FISHER, Circuit Judge.
On September 22, 2003, Appellant Edwin Villalona pleaded guilty to distribution
and intent to distribute over 50 grams of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).1 On July 28,
2004, in accordance with 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(iii), the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey sentenced Villalona to the statutory mandatory minimum of
120 months imprisonment. In his timely appeal,2 Villalona seeks a downward departure
of his sentence on the basis that the statutorily imposed stricter penalties for crack cocaine
versus powder cocaine are fundamentally unfair and violate his constitutional due process
rights. For the reasons below, we will affirm the sentence.
Villalona knowingly and voluntarily pleaded guilty to the crack cocaine violation,
which carried a statutory penalty range of 120-135 months imprisonment. Had his
violation been for the exact same amount of powder cocaine, 197.99 grams, the penalty
range would have been only 21-27 months imprisonment.3 The legislature drew a
distinction between crack cocaine and powder cocaine in 21 U.S.C. § 841, which utilizes
1
In violation of Titles 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), 21 U.S.C. § 841(1)(A)(iii), 18 U.S.C.
§ 2.
2
The United States challenged the timeliness of Villalona’s appeal given that it was
filed one day late and Villalona did not meet the requirements of Fed. R. App. P. 4(c)(1)
regarding notices of appeal from inmates confined to an institution. Our jurisdictional
requirements in this regard subsequently have been satisfied based upon Villalona’s
February 17, 2005 declaration in compliance with 28 U.S.C. § 1746 indicating that he
entered his appeal into the prison’s legal mail system within 10 days after his sentencing.
See Fed. R. App. P. 4(c)(1).
3
Based on a total offense level of 15 and a criminal history category of II.
2
a 100:1 drug quantity ratio, whereas the penalty for an offense involving 500 grams of
powder cocaine equates to that for an offense involving 5 grams of crack cocaine.
Villalona proposes that no scientifically meaningful distinction exists between crack
cocaine and powder cocaine to merit the harsher sentence for a crack cocaine violation.
He contends that the premise for the statutory penalty – i.e., the legislature’s
determination that crack cocaine is a more dangerous drug than powder cocaine – is
untrue. Accordingly, he asserts that sentencing him to the stricter penalty for crack
cocaine violated his due process rights as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. See
United States v. Beler, 20 F.3d 1428, 1432 (7th Cir. 1994) (quoting United States v.
Campbell, 985 F.2d 341, 348 (7th Cir. 1993) (“criminal defendant has a due process right
to be sentenced on the basis of reliable information.”).
We continue to uphold the validity of the legislature’s distinction between the two
drugs. As stated by this Court:
There is simply no force to the argument that “crack” or cocaine base is no
different from [powder] “cocaine,” and as a consequence Congress’s
decision is irrational. Crack is chemically different from [powder] cocaine.
It is used differently than [powder] cocaine. Its effect upon the human body
is different from that of [powder] cocaine.
United States v. Jones, 979 F.2d 317, 319 (3d Cir. 1992). In United States v. Alton, 60
F.3d 1065, 1069 (3d Cir. 1995), we continued to uphold “the constitutionality of both the
federal drug statutes (21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1) & 846) and the guideline provisions
(U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1) that treat crack cocaine offenses more severely than offenses
3
involving an equal quantity of powder cocaine.” Other courts have held as reliable the
legislature’s determination that the qualities of crack cocaine merit a distinction from
powder cocaine. See United States v. Lattimore, 974 F.2d 971, 975 (8th Cir. 1992)
(emphasizing the potency of crack cocaine, the ease with which drug dealers can carry
and conceal it, its highly addictive nature, and the violence which often accompanies
trade in it). See also United States v. Buckner, 894 F.2d 975 (8th Cir. 1990) (holding that
the sentences imposed by the Sentencing Guidelines for crimes involving crack cocaine
were not disproportionate to the seriousness of those offenses); United States v.
Lawrence, 951 F.2d 751 (7th Cir. 1991) (concluding that the penalty scheme does not
violate the Due Process clause and serves a national purpose).
We have held in the context of an Eighth Amendment and Equal Protection
challenge that neither Congress nor the Commission stepped beyond the bounds of the
Constitution in selecting the 100:1 ratio. United States v. Frazier, 981 F.2d 92, 96 (3d
Cir. 1992). Similarly, the 100:1 ratio in the treatment of drug weight does not violate an
offender’s due process rights. There are reasonable grounds for imposing a greater
punishment for offenses involving a particular weight of cocaine base than for
comparable offenses involving the same weight of [powder] cocaine. Id. Villalona’s
120-month sentence compared to the 21 to 27 months he would have received had his
offense been in powder cocaine represents “approximately a 5-to-1 ratio”; a punishment
disparity far shorter than the literal 100:1 drug weight ratio.
4
Based on the foregoing, we conclude Villalona’s statutory mandatory minimum
sentence for his crack cocaine offense does not violate his due process rights and does not
compel a downward departure of his sentence. Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment
of the District Court.
5