United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 23-2881 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. KEVIN D. HODGE, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. No. 4:20-cr-40047-JPG-3 — J. Phil Gilbert, Judge. ____________________

ARGUED APRIL 14, 2025 — DECIDED MAY 28, 2025 ____________________

Before BRENNAN, ST. EVE, and LEE, Circuit Judges. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge. Kevin Hodge was involved with the acquisition and distribution of a variety of illegal drugs. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methampheta- mine. Because of the large quantity of narcotics at issue, his crime would typically carry a ten-year statutory minimum sentence. But Hodge met the requirements of the statutory “safety valve,” which requires district courts to disregard mandatory minimums. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f). Relying on his 2 No. 23-2881 eligibility for the safety valve, Hodge requested a sentence be- low the statutory minimum. The district court sentenced him to ten years, but it did not discuss his entitlement to safety valve relief. As the court did not engage with this principal mitigating argument, we vacate Hodge’s sentence and re- mand for resentencing. I Hodge was indicted in the Southern District of Illinois for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. The indictment also alleged that the conspiracy involved more than 50 grams of methamphet- amine, which carries a statutory minimum sentence of ten years. Id. § 841(b)(1)(A)(viii). Hodge initially pleaded not guilty. After the district court granted a series of continuances, almost two years later he changed his plea to guilty. The court then granted Hodge’s six motions to continue the sentencing hearing. He asked for these continuances in part because his wife was awaiting or- gan transplants, making him the family’s primary caregiver. The presentence investigation report (PSR) stated that the total converted drug weight for the conspiracy resulted in a base offense level of 38. See U.S. SENT’G GUIDELINES MANUAL § 2D1.1(c). The PSR said Hodge met the requirements of the Guidelines’ safety valve, which allows a two-point reduction to the base offense level if the defendant meets the criteria de- fined in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(1)–(5). U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(18); id. § 5C1.2(a). Those requirements are (1) the defendant does not have certain prior offenses; (2) he did not use or threaten vio- lence in connection with the present offense; (3) the offense did not result in a serious injury or death of another; (4) the No. 23-2881 3 defendant was not a leader of the offense; and (5) he cooper- ated with the government during its investigation. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f). Based on the two-level reduction and other adjust- ments not relevant here, as well as Hodge’s criminal history category of I, the recommended Guidelines range was 135 to 168 months. Because Hodge met all requirements of the safety valve, the PSR stated the district court could sentence him below the ten-year statutory minimum. Id. Hodge noted this in his sen- tencing memorandum, and he asked the court to sentence him to time served, followed by supervised release. For sup- port Hodge again cited his wife’s serious health issues and his role as primary caregiver. At the sentencing hearing, the district court adopted the PSR’s findings and recommendations, including its applica- tion of the Guidelines’ two-point safety valve reduction. The government argued