United States v. Larry Charles Taylor

1 The Honorable James M. Rosenbaum, Chief Judge, United States District
Court for the District of Minnesota.
United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
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No. 05-3053
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United States of America, *
*
Appellee, *
* Appeal from the United States
v. * District Court for the
* District of Minnesota.
Juan Rene Sainz-Ortega, *
* [UNPUBLISHED]
Appellant. *
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Submitted: July 20, 2006
Filed: August 4, 2006
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Before MURPHY, BYE, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
A jury found Juan Rene Sainz-Ortega guilty of three drug offenses and of
failing to appear for trial. The district court 1 sentenced him to a total of 246 months
in prison and 10 years of supervised release. On appeal, Sainz-Ortega argues that the
district court erred by denying him safety-valve relief.
We conclude that the district court did not clearly err in denying safety-valve
relief. See United States v. White, 447 F.3d 1029, 1032 (8th Cir. 2006) (standard of

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review). The question was whether Sainz-Ortega’s prior drug conviction was related
to his instant drug convictions as relevant conduct within the meaning of U.S.S.G.
§§ 1B1.3, 4A1.1, and 4A1.2. The answer to that question turned on a credibility
determination by the district court regarding Sainz-Ortega’s testimony at the
sentencing hearing about his prior drug conviction. The district court’s decision not
to believe Sainz-Ortega’s testimony is virtually unreviewable on appeal, and we have
no cause to disturb it in the circumstances presented here. See Anderson v. City of
Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 575 (1985).
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
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