USCA1 Opinion

November 14, 1995

[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

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No. 95-1416

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Appellee,

v.

MICHAEL OLUDE,

Defendant, Appellant.

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APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Nathaniel M. Gorton, U.S. District Judge]

___________________

_________________________

Before

Selya, Cyr and Stahl, Circuit Judges.

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Mark F. Itzkowitz on brief for appellant.

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Donald K. Stern,
________________

United

States Attorney,

and Michael J.
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Pelgro, Assistant United States Attorney, on brief for the United

______
States.

_________________________

_________________________

Per Curiam.
Per Curiam.
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This is another in the long, grey line

of

sentencing appeals that trail

courts'

introduction

appellant

guideline

sentencing.

the federal

Defendant-

Michael Olude advances a lone assignment of error.

claims that he

conviction,

his

to

in the roiled wake of

was merely a minor participant in

He

the offense of

and that the lower court erred in refusing to reduce

offense level accordingly.

See U.S.S.G.
___

3B1.2(b).

We do

not agree.

Absent a mistake of law

review a

district court's

role in the offense only

Akitoye,
_______

923 F.2d

and we discern none here

factual findings anent

for clear error.

221, 227

(1st Cir.

a defendant's

See United States v.

___ ______________

1991); United States v.

______________

Ocasio, 914 F.2d 330, 333 (1st Cir. 1990).

______

an

we

Although

this is not

insurmountable hurdle, it is nevertheless a daunting one.

As

we

have

said before,

battles over

defendant's role

in the

offense are fact-based and, therefore, "will almost always be won

or lost

in the district

F.3d 70,

court."

75 (1st Cir. 1995).

United States
_____________

There

v. Graciani, 61
________

is no basis for a different

result here.

We will

States
______

v.

Ruiz-Garcia,
___________

(warning, in a

not "wast[e]

air").

to a

not belabor

886

the obvious.

F.2d

477

e.g., United
____ ______

(1st

Cir.

1989)

sentencing appeal, that an appellate court should

overtaxed judicial resources razing

The appellant

had the burden of proving

downward role-in-the-offense

F.2d at

474,

See,
___

332-33.

In

determining

adjustment.

whether

the

castles in the

his entitlement

See
___

Ocasio, 914
______

appellant

had

satisfied that burden, the sentencing court was not obligated

accept

the

involvement.

(1st

appellant's

self-interested

account

See United States v. Paz-Uribe, 891 F.2d

___ ______________
_________

Cir.), cert. denied, 495

_____ ______

U.S. 951 (1990).

of

to

his

396, 399

And, moreover,

even if, as appellant claims, he was merely a courier, he was not

automatically

entitled

to

downward

role-in-the-offense

adjustment.

See, e.g.,
___ ____

United States
_____________

v. Lopez-Gil,
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965 F.2d

1124, 1131 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 113 S.Ct. 484 (1992); United
_____ ______
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States v. Cepeda, 907 F.2d 11, 12 (1st Cir. 1990).

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______

We need

go no further.

on appeal by able counsel,

he has not

overcome the

all, in the world

than

one plausible

court's choice

erroneous."

1990).

Though appellant, represented

presents a somewhat sympathetic case,

formidable standard of

review.

of guideline sentencing, "where there

view

of the

After

is more

circumstances, the

sentencing

among supportable alternatives cannot

be clearly

United States v. Ruiz, 905 F.2d 499,

______________
____

508 (1st Cir.

Affirmed.
Affirmed.
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