United States of America v. Antoine D. Jackson

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 22-1191
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United States of America
Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Antoine D. Jackson
Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Northern District of Iowa - Cedar Rapids
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Submitted: September 19, 2022
Filed: October 20, 2022
[Unpublished]
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Before GRUENDER, MELLOY, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Antoine Jackson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled
substance in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. The district court1 determined that
Jackson’s offense had a five-year statutory minimum sentence and that Jackson
1 The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of Iowa.

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could not be sentenced below that minimum under the safety-valve provision in 18
U.S.C. § 3553(f) because he failed to satisfy certain conditions. The district court
sentenced him to 5 years’ imprisonment. Jackson appeals, claiming that the district
court erred in finding him ineligible for § 3553(f) sentencing. He argues that the
three conditions in § 3553(f)(1), which are connected by “and,” should be read
conjunctively rather than disjunctively. On Jackson’s reading, he remains eligible
for the safety valve unless he fails all three conditions.
Our recent decision in United States v. Pulsifer forecloses Jackson’s
argument. See 39 F.4th 1018, 1021-22 (8th Cir. 2022). We held that the “and”
between §§ 3553(f)(1)(B) and (C) is used conjunctively but in a distributive sense
rather than a joint sense. Id. The distributive reading means that failing any one of
§§ 3553(f)(1)(A)-(C) bars eligibility. Id. at 1022. Because Jackson had “a prior 3-
point offense,” see § 3553(f)(1)(B), he was ineligible for sentencing under § 3553(f).
We therefore affirm Jackson’s sentence.
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