James Dorelus v. United States

Where a defendant pleads guilty to the crime of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 USC § 924(c)(1)(A), is it a violate of the Fifth Amendment, Double Jeopardy Clause not to allow such a defendant the “safety valve” reduction for the underlying drug trafficking offense pursuant to USSG §5C1.2 and 18 USC § 3553(f) in cases where the same firearm resulted in the § 924(c)(1)(A) conviction? PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING Petitioner, James Dorelus was the Defendant in the District Court for the Southern District of Florida (District Court), and the Appellant before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The United States of America, was the Plaintiff in the District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and the Appellee before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE The Petitioner has complied with the requirements set forth in Rule 33 of the Supreme Court. In particular, Petitioner certifies that a 14-point Times Roman font was used in this petition, and pursuant to Supreme Court Rule the petition for certiorari contains 5895 words or less excluding, the questions presented, list of parties and corporate disclosure statement, the table of content, the table of cited authorities, the listing of counsel at the end of document, or any appendix.