United States v. Kort
Appellant Jason Edgar Kort pled guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. He appealed his 135-month sentence on grounds the district court erred in denying both his request for an additional two-level downward departure based on his substantial assistance to the government and his motion for a variance based on the same assistance to the government and an alleged sentencing disparity. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit found that the district court considered all of Appellant's contentions concerning his government assistance and sufficiently explained Appellant's sentence, including why it declined to provide a variance for such assistance. Appellant did not provide a persuasive argument for the purpose of rebutting the substantive reasonableness of his sentence on government assistance grounds nor otherwise shown his 135-month sentence, which was at the low end of the Guidelines range, was arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or manifestly unreasonable. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the district court's judgment and Appellant's sentence.