United States v. Freeman

Memorandum Opinion

JORDAN, District Judge.

A defendant who is convicted of a specified narcotics offense carrying a mandatory minimum sentence can avoid that minimum sentence, and receive a sentence within the range otherwise prescribed by the Sentencing Guidelines, if he meets certain “safety valve” criteria. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f); USSG § 5C1.2. 1 See also USSG § 2D1.1(b)(6) (providing for a two-level decrease for a defendant who satisfies § 5C1.2 and whose offense level is twenty-six or higher). Among other things, the-defendant must, “not later than the sentencing hearing, ... truthfully…