What is the test of the rule of lenity?

Simply put, the rule of lenity requires a sentencing court--when faced with an actual ambiguity over which of two penalties should apply--to select the lesser penalty. United States v. Canales, 91 F.3d 363, 367 (2d Cir.1996). The rule comes into play only when--after considering everything from which any help may be gleaned--a sentencing court still finds itself at a loss to determine which of two penalties governs under the ambiguous statute. Chapman v. United States, 500 U.S. 453, 463, 111 S.Ct. 1919, 1926, 114 L.Ed.2d 524 (1991). For the rule of lenity to apply, the statutory provision must be ambiguous both on its face and as applied to the particular defendant. United States v. Plaza Health Labs., Inc., 3 F.3d 643, 646 (2d Cir.1993).