United States v. Steven John Stoltenberg, 309 F.3d 499 (8th Cir. 2002). · Go Syfert
United States v. Steven John Stoltenberg, 309 F.3d 499 (8th Cir. 2002). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
10 citation events (10 in the last 25 years) across 2 distinct courts.
Cited for
At page 500 Analyzing obstruction of justice conduct and enhancement10 citing casesA defendant has the burden to establish his entitlement to an aeceptance-of-responsibility reduction.2 citing courts put it this way · 9 listed here
  • United States v. Steven Crook, Jr., No. 19-2266 (8th Cir. Mar. 5, 2020).unpublished
    See United States v. Nygren, 933 F.3d 76, 82-83 (1st Cir.) (upholding obstruction-of-justice enhancement for defendant who had feigned incompetency, engaging in pattern of malingering in order to skew justice system in his favor), cert. de…
  • United States v. Justin Ray, 489 F. App'x 975 (8th Cir. 2012).unpublished
    Although “there is no magic formula,” the district court should consider the timing and nature of the defendant’s obstructive conduct, the degree of his acceptance of responsibility, whether his obstruction of justice was an isolated and e…
  • United States v. Samira Zuniga, 488 F. App'x 178 (8th Cir. 2012).unpublished
    United States v. Stoltenberg, 309 F.3d 499, 500 (8th Cir.2002) (citing Honken, 184 F.3d at 968-69 ).
  • United States v. Sarah Godsey, 690 F.3d 906 (8th Cir. 2012).published
    We have described the analysis for determining whether an acceptance of responsibility adjustment is appropriate in the presence of an obstruction adjustment: [T]he district court should consider the timing and nature of the defendant’s ob…
  • United States v. Bastian, 650 F. Supp. 2d 849 (N.D. Iowa 2009).published
    (A defendant has the burden to establish his entitlement to an aeceptance-of-responsibility reduction.)
  • United States v. Kruse, 618 F. Supp. 2d 981 (N.D. Iowa 2009).published
    (A defendant has the burden to establish his entitlement to an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction.)
  • United States v. Ricardo Nelson Muro, Also Known as Mario Gomez, Also Known as Ricardo Nelson Murodiaz, 357 F.3d 743 (8th Cir. 2004).published
    See United States v. Stoltenberg, 309 F.3d 499, 500 (8th Cir.2002) (per curiam) (noting that the district court has discretion in how it assigns weight to each factor).
  • United States v. Minh Nguyen, No. 02-3351 (8th Cir. Aug. 7, 2003).published
    Honken, 184 F.3d at 968–69; see also United States v. Stoltenberg, 309 F.3d 499, 500 (8th Cir. 2002).
  • United States v. Minh Van Nguyen, 339 F.3d 688 (8th Cir. 2003).published
    Honken, 184 F.3d at 968-69 ; see also United States v. Stoltenberg, 309 F.3d 499, 500 (8th Cir.2002).
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,
v.
Steven John STOLTENBERG, Appellant
02-1662.
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Oct 25, 2002.
Published opinion
309 F.3d 499
2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 22350
2002 WL 31398738
Russell Schroeder, Jr., argued, Charles City, IA, for appellant., C.J. Williams, Asst. U.S. Atty., argued, Cedar Rapids, IA, for appellee.
Hansen, Heaney, Arnold.
Cited by 10 opinions  |  Published
PER CURIAM.

Steven John Stoltenberg pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine and cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and distributing methamphetamine to persons under twenty-one years of age, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 859. The district court [1] denied Stoltenberg’s request to reduce his offense level for acceptance of responsibility under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 3E1.1 (2001) and sentenced him to an aggregate of 300 months imprisonment and ten years supervised release. On appeal, Stoltenberg argues that the court clearly erred in denying the reduction for acceptance of responsibility.

The district court enhanced Stol-tenberg’s offense level for obstruction of justice under USSG § 3C1.1 because (1) while on pretrial release, Stoltenberg distributed methamphetamine several times to three women under the age of twenty-one, and (2) at his detention hearing, Stol-tenberg testified falsely before the magistrate judge that he had never distributed drugs in Rockwell, Iowa. Stoltenberg does not challenge this enhancement on appeal, and an enhancement for obstruction of justice “ordinarily indicates that the defendant has not accepted responsibility for his criminal conduct.” See id., comment, (n.4). A defendant may receive both an obstruction-of-justiee enhancement and an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction in an “extraordinary cased,” see id., but such a case is “extremely rare,” see United States v. Honken, 184 F.3d 961, 969 (8th Cir.) (quoted source, internal marks, and emphasis omitted), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1056, 120 S.Ct. 602, 145 L.Ed.2d 500 (1999).

A defendant has the burden to establish his entitlement to an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction. See id. at 968. Although “there is no magic formula,” the district court should consider the timing and nature of the defendant’s obstructive conduct, the degree of his acceptance of responsibility, whether his obstruction of justice was an isolated and early incident, whether he voluntarily terminated his obstructive conduct, whether he admitted and recanted his obstructive conduct, and whether he assisted in the investigation of his and others’ offenses. See id. at 968-69.

It is clear from the record that the district court weighed Stoltenberg’s obstructive conduct against his acceptant conduct in a manner consistent with this framework. The district court found most troubling Stoltenberg’s repeated distribution of methamphetamine to persons under twenty-one while he was on pretrial release, an ongoing obstruction of justice which terminated only when police arrested him.

The district court took into account Stol-tenberg’s acceptance of responsibility, but found that it was outweighed by his obstruction of justice. Because “the district court properly considered all of the relevant circumstances,” and “the weight assigned to any one factor ... is within the district court’s discretion,” we conclude that the court did not clearly err in denying Stoltenberg’s request for an aceep-tanee-of-responsibility reduction. See [*501] United States v. Perez, 270 F.3d 737, 739 (8th Cir.2001), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 122 S.Ct. 1336, 152 L.Ed.2d 241 (2002).

We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.

1

. The Honorable Michael J. Melloy, United States Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation.