United States v. Ressam

679 F.3d 1069 (2012) (en banc)

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United States v. Ressam

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
679 F.3d 1069 (2012) (en banc)

SR

Facts

Ahmed Ressam (defendant) was convicted for plotting to detonate a bomb at the Los Angeles International Airport. Before sentencing, Ressam agreed to assist the prosecution in terrorism investigations and to provide testimony at trial. In exchange, the prosecution agreed to seek a sentence of no less than 27 years and filed a U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 substantial-assistance motion. After assisting the prosecution for a few years, which resulted in two convictions, Ressam decided to stop cooperating and partially recanted his prior testimony. As a result, two other terrorism prosecutions were unable to go forward. The district court sentenced Ressam to 22 years’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release. Both Ressam and the prosecution appealed. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit remanded for resentencing. Although Ressam’s sentence was calculated at 65 years under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (the guidelines), the district court reimposed a sentence of 22 years. The government appealed. A Ninth Circuit panel vacated the sentence and remanded the case to a different judge for resentencing. Ressam requested a rehearing en banc.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Clifton, J.)

Concurrence (Reinhardt, J.)

Dissent (Schroeder, J.)

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