Case ID: f-appx_53/html/0270-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "PER CURIAM.", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Steven BROOKS, Defendant-Appellant.
    No. 02-4453.
    United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
    Submitted Nov. 26, 2002.
    Decided Dec. 20, 2002.
    Walter T. Johnson, Jr., Law Office of Walter T. Johnson, Jr., Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Anna Mills Wagoner, United States Attorney, Douglas Cannon, Assistant United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.
    Before NIEMEYER, WILLIAMS, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.
    Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
   OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Steven Michael Brooks appeals the forty-four month sentence imposed on his guilty plea to conspiracy to make, utter, or possess counterfeit securities, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 513(a) (2000). Brooks conspired to sell or use as collateral for a loan two fraudulent letters of guarantee with face values totaling $900,000,000. After calculating the sentencing enhancement based on the amount of intended loss, the district court departed downward one level, finding that the offense level overstated the seriousness of the crime. On appeal, Brooks contends that a downward departure is warranted for precisely the same reasons the district court granted the departure. This court lacks jurisdiction to review the extent of a downward departure in an appellant’s favor unless the departure results in a sentence in violation of law or results from an incorrect application of the sentencing guidelines. See United States v. Hill, 70 F.3d 321, 324 (4th Cir.1995); 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a) (2000). Neither exception applies here. Accordingly, we dismiss Brooks’s appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED.