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                        as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.

083103P.pdf   09/09/2009  United States  v.  Jay Christensen, Jr.
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  08-3103
   U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Sioux City   
   [PUBLISHED] [Loken, Author, with Melloy and Benton, Circuit Judges]
   Criminal case - Sentencing. A Sec. 3553(e) departure below a statutory
   minimum sentence must be based exclusively on assistance-related
   considerations, and the district court did not err in finding that it lacked
   authority to grant a greater departure based on 3553(a) factors; district
   court did not err in selecting a starting point for the departure; the extent
   of the departure (60%) was not an abuse of discretion, and the court did
   not impose an unreasonable sentence.