Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/974/19/438062/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 05:55:53+00:00

Document:
Julie Ann Epps, Rienzi, Miss. (Court-appointed), for defendant-appellant.
Richard L. Durbin, Diane D. Kirstein, Asst. U.S. Attys., Ronald F. Ederer, U.S. Atty., San Antonio, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before VAN GRAAFEILAND,* KING, and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.
Defendant, David Gregory Surasky, pled guilty to possession of 1348 grams of phenylacetic acid with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(d). At sentencing, the district court--adopting the guideline1 calculations contained in the presentence report (PSR)--sentenced Surasky to 120 months imprisonment. Surasky appeals, maintaining that the district court erred in adopting these calculations. Finding no plain error, we affirm.
* Officers of the Cedar Park Police Department executed a search warrant on Surasky's residence and seized 1348 grams phenylacetic acid, along with 4 grams methamphetamine. Surasky was charged by superseding information, and pled guilty to possession of a listed chemical, phenylacetic acid, with intent to manufacture a controlled substance, methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(d).
At sentencing, the district court converted the 1348 grams phenylacetic acid possessed by Surasky to 674 grams phenylacetone, and in turn converted that amount to 505.5 grams methamphetamine2 in order to arrive at Surasky's base offense level of 28.3 Surasky made no objection to these calculations at trial. This base offense level, combined with Surasky's criminal history category of III, authorized a guideline range of 97 to 121 months. See U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Pt. A. The district court imposed the statutory maximum sentence of 120 months. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(d).
Surasky contends that the district court erred in arriving at a base offense level of 28. In particular, Surasky complains that the district court erroneously used the DEA formula contained in the PSR4 to convert phenylacetic acid to methamphetamine. Surasky argues that the district court should have used the Sentencing Guidelines' Drug Equivalency Tables to convert phenylacetic acid to cocaine or heroin, which would have resulted in a base offense level of 26. See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c) and comment. (n. 10).
Because Surasky failed to raise this objection at trial, we review the district court's ruling only for "plain error."5 See United States v. Lopez, 923 F.2d 47, 50 (5th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S. Ct. 2032, 114 L. Ed. 2d 117 (1991) (allegedly erroneous determination of defendant's criminal history, not raised at trial, reviewed only for plain error); United States v. Brunson, 915 F.2d 942, 944 (5th Cir. 1990) (where no objection was made at trial, alleged misapplication of sentencing guidelines reviewed only for plain error). "There is no hard and fast rule for determining whether error is plain; the determination turns upon the facts of a particular case." United States v. Gerald, 624 F.2d 1291, 1299 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 920, 101 S. Ct. 1369, 67 L. Ed. 2d 348 (1981). However, this Court has stated repeatedly that "plain error" is "error so obvious that our failure to notice it would seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of [the] judicial proceedings and result in a miscarriage of justice." Lopez, 923 F.2d at 50; United States v. Bi-Co Pavers, 741 F.2d 730, 735 (5th Cir. 1984); United States v. Howton, 688 F.2d 272, 278 (5th Cir. 1982). Plain error is "both obvious and substantial." Gerald, 624 F.2d at 1299.
Finding no plain error, we AFFIRM.
The Drug Quantity Table in U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c) provides a base offense level of 28 for " [a]t least 400 G but less than 700 G of methamphetamine."
The Drug Equivalency Tables provide that phenylacetone converts to heroin via a ratio of 1 to .416, see U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1, comment. (n. 10); and they also provide that quantities of heroin and methamphetamine are interchangeable for sentencing purposes. See id. ("1 gm of Methamphetamine = ... 1.0 gm of heroin.") Because phenylacetone converts to heroin via a ratio of 1 to .416, it converts to methamphetamine via the same ratio.
However, the DEA formula adopted by the district court converts phenylacetone to methamphetamine by a ratio of 1 to .75 rather than 1 to .416. See supra note 2. In this respect the DEA formula is in conflict with U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1. We express no opinion as to the result that we might have reached had Surasky objected to the DEA formula at trial.

References: § 841
 § 841
 § 841
 § 2
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 § 2
 § 2
 § 2