AMENDMENT 582
The Commentary to §3C1.1 captioned "Application Notes" is amended in Note 4 (redesignated as Note 5 by Amendment 581, see supra) in the first sentence of the first paragraph by striking "enhancement" and inserting "adjustment"; and by inserting "or affect the determination of whether other guideline adjustments apply (e.g., §3E1.1 (Acceptance of Responsibility))" after "guideline range"; in the second sentence by striking "enhancement" and inserting "adjustment"; in subdivision (d) by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and by adding at the end the following new subdivision:
"(e) lying to a probation or pretrial services officer about defendant’s drug use while on pre-trial release, although such conduct may be a factor in determining whether to reduce the defendant’s sentence under §3E1.1 (Acceptance of Responsibility).".
Reason for Amendment: The purpose of this amendment is to establish that lying to a probation officer about drug use while released on bail does not warrant an obstruction of justice adjustment under §3C1.1. This amendment resolves a circuit conflict on that issue. Compare United States v. Belletiere, 971 F.2d 961 (3d Cir. 1992) (lying about drug use is not obstructive conduct that impedes government’s investigation of instant offense), and United States v. Thompson, 944 F.2d 1331 (7th Cir. 1991) (same), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1097 (1992), with United States v. Garcia, 20 F.3d 670 (6th Cir. 1994) (falsely denying drug use, while not outcome-determinative, is relevant), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1159 (1995). The amendment, which adopts the majority view, excludes from application of §3C1.1 a defendant’s denial of drug use while on pre-trial release, although the amendment provides that such conduct may be relevant in determining the application of other guidelines, such as §3E1.1 (Acceptance of Responsibility).
Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 1998.