# U ni te d S ta te s Co ur t of A pp ea ls For the Eig hth Circu it

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No. 1 7- 34 11

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ Uni te d S ta te s o f Am eri ca

ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll l Pla in ti

ff - App el le e

v.

Pat ric ia Gay le Lewis -Zub ki n, al so kn own as P at W at ts , als o k no wn as Pat Zub ki n, al so kn own as P at Lewis

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an t - Ap pe ll an t

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Uni te d S ta te s Di st ric t Co ur t fo r th e Weste rn Dis tri ct of Ark an sa s - Har ris on

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Su bm it te d: Sep te m

be r 25 , 20 18 Fi le d: Nov em

be r 6, 2 01 8 [Pu bl is he d]

__ __ __ __ __ __ Befo re WOL LMAN, KELL Y, and ERICKSON, Ci rcu it Ju dg es

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PER CURI AM.

Pat ric ia Gay le Lewis -Zub ki n pl ead ed gu il ty to co ns pi racy to di st rib ut e

m et ha m ph et am in e, in vi ol at io n of 21 U.S.C. §§ 84 1( a)(1 ) an d 84 6. Sh e ap pe al s th ed i s tri ct co ur t’s 1 im po si ti on of a two -le ve l se nt en ci ng en ha nc em en t un de r USSG § 2D1 .1(b )(2 ), whi ch ap pl ie s if th e de fen da nt “ us ed vi ol en ce, m ad e a cred ib le th reat
to us e v io le nc e, or di rect ed th e u se of v io le nc e.”

In se ve ral in te rcep te d ph on e cal ls
, Lewis -Z u b k i n st at ed th at two of he r co

co ns pi rat or s, Ja m es Su gg s an d Dam m on Ch arl to n, were wor k i n g w i t h la w

en fo rcem en t an d ne ed ed to be as sa ul te d. At on e po in t sh e sa id th at Su gg s sh ou ld ha ve th e li fe be at ou t of hi m an d th at sh e wou ld li ke to se e Ch arl to n at le as t ge t hi s fro nt te et h kn oc ke d ou t. Sh e la te r pa id an ot he r co -co ns pi rat or $1 00 to carr y ou t th e

as sa ul ts

. W he n da y s pa ss ed wit ho ut t h e a t t a c ks ta ki ng pl ace, Lewis -Zub ki n de m an de d th e ret ur n of he r $1 00 an d sa id sh e ha d fo un d so m eo ne el se to do th e job

. At se nt en ci ng , Lewis -Zub ki n di d no t co nt es t an y of th es e fact s bu t arg ue d th ey were in su ffi ci en t t o s ho w her th reat s wer e cre di bl e.

W e fin d no cl ear erro r in th e di st ric t co ur t’s ap pl ic at io n of th e § 2 D 1

. 1 ( b )(2 )

en ha nc em en t. See Uni te d S t a t e s v

. Kirk Tan g Yuk
, 88 5 F.3 d 57 , 82 –8 3 (2 d Ci r. 20 18 ) (co nc lu di ng it was no t cl ear erro r fo r th e di st ric t co ur t to co ns tru e de fen da nt ’s

co m m en ts th at refe ren ced “ dr iv in g a car ov er” an ot he r in di vi du al as cred ib le th reat s,

ev en if “ th e s t a t e m en ts in qu es ti on co ul d be in te rp ret ed as in no cen t hyperb ol e”); Uni te d St at es v. Ru th erfo rd
, 59 9 F.3 d 81 7, 82 0 (8 th Ci r. 20 10 ) (s ta nd ard of rev ie w). The di st ric t co ur t co rrec tl y no te d th at th e en ha nc em en t ap pl ie s reg ard le ss of whe th er th e th reat en ed vi ol en ce is ul ti m at el y carr ie d ou t. Cf. Uni te d St at es v. Sy ke s , 85 4 F.3 d
45 7, 4 61 (8t h C ir.)
, cert . den ie d , 13 8 S . Ct. 3 46 (20 17 )

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1 The Hon or ab le P.K. Hol m es , III, Ch ie f Ju dg e, Uni te d S ta te s Di st ric t Co ur t fo r th e Weste rn Dis tri ct of Ark an sa s.

2 In a pa ss in g re m ark du rin g s en te nc in g, t he di st ric t co ur t re ferr ed to Lewis

Zub ki n as be ari ng th e bu rd en of pr oo f. The di st ric t co ur t di d no t rep eat th is erro r an d th e un co nt es te d fact s es ta bl is h th at th e go ve rn m en t sh owe d t h a t t h e en ha nc em en t ap pl ie d b y

a pr ep on de ran ce o f th e ev id en ce. See Uni te d S ta te s v. Pepp er , 74 7 F.3d 52 0, 5 23 (8t h C ir. 2 01 4) (bu rd en of p ro of ).

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-The jud gm en t o f th e d is tri ct co ur t i s af fir m ed

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