Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Maria MALDONADO, Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2004-02-09
Citations: 86 F. App'x 734
Docket Number: No. 03-40416
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Maria MALDONADO, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 86
Pages: 734–734

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Maria MALDONADO, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 03-40416.
Summary Calendar
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
Feb. 9, 2004.
James Lee Turner, Assistant US Attorney, David Hill Peck, Houston, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Jose Luis Ramos, Sr., Rio Grande City, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before JONES, BENAVIDES, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
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 distriet court identified several 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.
Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.