Opinion ID: 763479
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Refusal To Depart Downward In Afolabi's Sentence

Text: 39 Afolabi contends that the district court erred in refusing to depart downward in her case because she merely signed the back of some of the cards and occasionally accompanied Akinkoye when he used the cards. She argues that since she never applied for any of the cards and never held on to any of them, she is entitled to a departure. 40 Even if we agreed with Afolabi (and we do not), we could not grant her the relief that she seeks. Congress has made clear that we cannot review a district court's decision not to depart from the applicable guideline range if that decision was based on a determination that a departure is not appropriate. See 18 U.S.C.A. § 3742(a) (West Supp.1998); United States v. Brock, 108 F.3d 31, 33 (4th Cir.1997). By contrast, we can review refusals to depart if the district court believed that it did not have the authority to depart. See Brock, 108 F.3d at 33. 41 Here, the record shows that the district court was well aware of the departure for defendants whose role in the offense was minimal. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 (1998). However, the district court decided that Afolabi was involved in the offense to such an extent that she did not merit the downward departure. As the district court has determined that a departure is inappropriate, we may not review it.