UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

JESUS FRANCISCO ROMERO-GONZALEZ,

No. 00-4045

a/k/a Jose E. Romero, a/k/a Jesus

Gonzales, a/k/a Juan Pablo

Martinez,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria.

Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge.

(CR-99-244)

Submitted: July 31, 2000

Decided: August 11, 2000

Before WILLIAMS and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges,

and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

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COUNSEL

Matthew A. Wartel, SHERMAN, MEEHAN, CURTIN & AIN,

Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Helen F. Fahey, United States

Attorney, John T. Morton, Assistant United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Jesus Romero-Gonzalez was convicted pursuant to his guilty plea

of illegally re-entering the United States after being deported following a conviction for an aggravated felony. On appeal, he alleges that

the district court erroneously refused to grant his motions for downward departure based on extraordinary rehabilitative efforts and precharge delay. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

The basic facts of this case are undisputed. Romero-Gonzalez, a

citizen of El Salvador, first entered the United States in 1982. He was

arrested twice in 1992 in Texas on drug charges, but he fled before

he could be prosecuted. He made his way to the District of Columbia,

where he was again arrested twice on drug charges, but fled prior to

trial. Texas authorities apprehended Romero-Gonzalez in 1993, and

he was tried on the earlier Texas drug charges and deported.

Romero-Gonzalez illegally re-entered the United States in 1995,

and he was ultimately apprehended by D.C. police and tried on the

earlier D.C. drug charges. Prior to sentencing in 1996, D.C. police

notified the INS that Romero-Gonzalez was in their custody. Nevertheless, the INS did not interview him until 1998, and RomeroGonzalez admitted during the interview that he had illegally reentered the United States. However, the Government did not indict

him until 1999, after he completed his D.C. sentence.

It is well-settled that a district court's decision denying a downward departure is not reviewable unless the court believed it lacked

the authority to depart. See United States v. Bayerle, 898 F.2d 28, 30-

31 (4th Cir. 1990). Here, we find that the district court properly recognized its authority to grant Romero-Gonzalez's motions under

Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81 (1996), and United States v.

Brock, 108 F.3d 31 (4th Cir. 1997), but declined to do so under the

facts of this case.

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We therefore affirm Romero-Gonzalez's sentence. 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.

AFFIRMED

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