Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-03-40416/USCOURTS-ca5-03-40416-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Maria Maldonado
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined

that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent

except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.

R. 47.5.4.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

F I L E D

February 9, 2004

Charles R. Fulbruge III

Clerk

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

 

No. 03-40416

Summary Calendar

 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

MARIA MALDONADO,

Defendant-Appellant.

--------------------

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Texas

USDC No. C-02-CR-310-1

--------------------

Before JONES, BENAVIDES, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Maria Maldonado was convicted of violating 21 U.S.C.

§§ 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 after a border search

revealed cocaine hidden on her person. Appealing her sentence,

Maldonado argues that the district court’s determination that her

testimony was not credible, and hence that she did not merit

relief under U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2, was not supported by evidence in

the record. Because the district court identified several

 Case: 03-40416 Document: 0051116494 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/09/2004
No. 03-40416

-2-

specific suspicious elements of Maldonado’s account that she was

not able to satisfactorily render clear, the district court’s

factual finding that Maldonado had not been sufficiently truthful

“is plausible in light of the record as a whole”. See United

States v. Edwards, 65 F.3d 430, 432 (5th Cir. 1995); United

States v. Flanagan, 80 F.3d 143, 145 (5th Cir. 1996). The ruling

of the district court is AFFIRMED.

 Case: 03-40416 Document: 0051116494 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/09/2004