departure rate is 25.7% in all drug cases). According to a report recently released by the General Accounting Office, courts departed on the basis of substantial assistance in 28% of all drug trafficking cases in fiscal years 1999-2001. United States General Accounting Office, Federal Drug Offenses: Departures from Sentencing Guidelines and Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Fiscal Years 1999-2001 12 (Oct.2003). 2 . The court is not strictly limited to the factors listed in § 5K1.1. However, these factors seem to cover the range of relevant information in the substantial assistance context. 3 . Because the mandatory minimum sentence fell within the guideline range, I simply departed from the offense level specified by the guidelines. Cf. United States v. Hayes, 5 F.3d 292, 295 (7th Cir.1993) (<HOLDING>); United States v. Jones, 233 F.Supp.2d 1067,
holding that a district court commits reversible error when it sentences a defendant to less than the statutory minimum where no exception to the mandatory minimum applies holding that where the statutory mandatory minimum sentence is higher than the upper end of the guideline range the court departs from the statutory level ie the lowest offense level that could support the statutory minimum holding that where the guideline range is higher than the statutory maximum sentence the court should depart from the lowest range that could support the statutory maximum holding that even if the minimum mandatory exceeds the statutory maximum the court must impose the minimum mandatory holding that when no statutory exception applies  the district court lacks the authority to impose a sentence less than the statutory mandatory minimum