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AMENDMENTS TO THE GUIDELINES MANUAL

2024

AMENDMENT 500

The Commentary to §3B1.1 captioned "Application Notes" is amended by renumbering Notes 2 and 3 as 3 and 4, respectively; and by inserting the following additional note:

"2. To qualify for an adjustment under this section, the defendant must have been the organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor of one or more other participants. An upward departure may be warranted, however, in the case of a defendant who did not organize, lead, manage, or supervise another participant, but who nevertheless exercised management responsibility over the property, assets, or activities of a criminal organization.".

Reason for Amendment: This amendment clarifies the operation of this section to resolve a split among the courts of appeal. Compare United States v. Carroll, 893 F.2d 1502 (6th Cir. 1990) (requiring degree of control over other persons for §3B1.1 to apply); United States v. Fuller, 897 F.2d 1217 (1st Cir. 1990) (same); United States v. Mares-Molina, 913 F.2d 770 (9th Cir. 1990) (same) and United States v. Fuentes, 954 F.2d 151 (3d Cir.) (same), cert. denied, 112 S.Ct. 2950 (1992) with United States v. Chambers, 985 F.2d 1263 (4th Cir.) (defendant may be a "manager" even though he did not directly supervise other persons), petition for cert. filed, No. 92-8737 (U.S. May 17, 1993).

Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 1993.