United States v. Pickett, Lorenzo

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge RANDOLPH.

Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge ROGERS.

RANDOLPH, Circuit Judge.

Under one of the United States Sentencing Guidelines it takes 100 times more powder cocaine to get a drug trafficker the same sentence he would receive for dealing crack cocaine. The issue in this appeal is whether a judge considering the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) may ignore how the 100-to-l ratio affects those factors in crack cocaine cases.

I

In 2002, Lorenzo Pickett pled guilty to distributing more than five grams of crack cocaine, in violation of 21…