Opinion ID: 1035557
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: “[W]here a jury verdict is ambiguous, a sentence imposed for a conviction on a count charging violations of multiple statutes or provisions . . . may not exceed the lowest of the potentially applicable maximums . . . .” United States v. Conley, 349 F.3d 837, 840 (5th Cir. 2003) (citation and footnote omitted). Here, the government rightly concedes that Conley is controlling, and that the sentences of Salas and the ML Appellants should therefore be vacated. We thus vacate those Appellants’ sentences—as to Count 10 only—and remand for resentencing. C. Appellants’ More General Challenges to Their Sentences Aside from their challenges to the statutory maximum sentence used for Count 10, Salas and the ML Appellants also raise more general challenges to their respective sentences. We address them in turn. 1. Salas Salas’s raises two issues. The first is whether the district court erred by attributing the entire $1,913,937—which was deposited into the 38 bank 12 Salas, by contrast, does not challenge his Count 10 sentence. Presumably, Salas does not pursue a challenge because, even if successful, it would have no bearing in light, inter alia, of his concurrent life sentences for Counts 1, 3, 4, 6, and 9. Nevertheless, as discussed below, the government concedes that Salas’s sentence—as well as the ML Appellants’ sentences—should be vacated for re-sentencing in light of controlling authority. We agree and, accordingly, vacate Salas’s unchallenged Count 10 sentence as plain error. 37 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 38 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 accounts controlled by Salas and the ML Appellants—to drug trafficking, and then converting the $1,913,937 into marijuana-equivalent for purposes of applying the Sentencing Guidelines. The second is whether the court erred by adopting the recommendation of the probation officer (“PO”) that Salas receive a 4-level leader/organizer enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a).13
Pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2, the PO grouped the various counts on which Salas was convicted. She then applied the Sentencing Guidelines using Count 10 because it resulted in the highest base offense level.14 In Salas’s pre-sentence report (“PSR”), the PO held him liable for all of the activities of both the drug trafficking and the money laundering conspiracies. Thus, the PO held Salas accountable for all cocaine and marijuana actually seized, as well as for any historical loads (trafficked in the past). In order to combine the cocaine and marijuana offenses for sentencing purposes, the PO converted all seized cocaine to marijuana-equivalent using the Drug Equivalency Table provided in U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1, Application Note 10(E). The PO then derived a combined (cocaine and marijuana) offense pertaining to 28,978 kg. of marijuana-equivalent. Salas and the ML Appellants controlled 38 bank accounts into which $1,913,937 was deposited between 2002 and 2009. The PO attributed the entire $1,913,937 to drug trafficking. In accordance with the instructions provided in U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1, Application Note 12, she assumed that they had received $280 in revenue per lb. of marijuana trafficked.15 The PO divided the $1,913,937 by 13 The PO applied the 2010 edition of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual. 14 The PO similarly grouped the counts of conviction, and applied the Sentencing Guidelines using Count 10, for Lopez, Galaviz, and Magana. 15 The PO explained that Salas generally had sold marijuana for $280 to $300 per lb. 38 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 39 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 $280 to derive an offense pertaining to 6835.5 lbs. of marijuana-equivalent. She then restated the derived offense as pertaining to its metric equivalent: 3100.5 kg. of marijuana-equivalent. Adding the 3100.5 kg of marijuana-equivalent from historical loads to the 28,978 kg. of marijuana-equivalent from drugs actually seized, the PO calculated an aggregate base offense pertaining to 32,078.5 kg. of marijuana-equivalent. Using the Drug Quantity Table provided in U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c)(1), the PO identified a Base Offense Level of 38. In light, inter alia, of the trial testimony of cooperating witness Heriberto Benavides, the PO later added 107,000 kg. of previously uncounted marijuanaequivalent (300 kg. of cocaine) to Salas’s base offense, for an amended aggregate base offense pertaining to 139,078.5 kg. of marijuana-equivalent. Since 38 was the maximum Base Offense Level, and Salas already had been responsible for more than the 30,000 kg. threshold of that Base Offense Level, the amended aggregate had no meaningful effect with respect to the Drug Quantity Table. The PO recommended a 2-level enhancement for conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a). She recommended another 2-level enhancement for “sophisticated” money laundering. She also recommended a 4-level enhancement for leading/organizing. The PO declined to recommend a reduction for acceptance of responsibility. Thus, the PO recommended a Total Offense Level of 43.16 Since Salas had zero prior convictions, he had zero criminal history points and, therefore, a Criminal History Category of I.17 Accordingly, Salas’s Guidelines range was “life.” 16 The PO noted that 43 is the maximum Total Offense Level and, therefore, proceeded to treat Salas’s Total Offense Level as 43 even though it actually amounted to 46 postadjustments. 17 All four Appellants raising Sentencing Guidelines challenges had a Criminal History Category of I. 39 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 40 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 At the sentencing hearing, the district court adopted the PSR (as amended) in full, including the 107,000 kg. of added marijuana-equivalent, as well as the three upward adjustments and the one downward adjustment. Salas chose not to speak in his own defense. After the district court asked Salas’s trial counsel for a proposed sentence under the factors enumerated in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), counsel requested that the sentence not exceed 25 years. The district court stated that it had considered the § 3553(a) factors, and had concluded that Salas’s conduct warranted “very stiff . . . statutory penalties.”

attributing the entire $1,913,937 to drug trafficking, and by converting it into marijuana-equivalent. On appeal, Salas argues that the district court erred by adopting the PSR—in which the PO had attributed the entire $1,913,937 to historical drug loads, and had converted it into 3100.5 kg. of marijuana-equivalent. Specifically, Salas contends that it is improper to derive historical drug loads in this manner when there were actual drugs seized. This argument is flawed. After all, Salas does not challenge the amendment to the PSR based on Benavides’s testimony, in which the PO added the 107,000 kg. of previously uncounted marijuana-equivalent. The district court adopted the PSR in full, including the amendment. Because the 107,000 kg. of marijuana-equivalent alone were sufficient to surpass the 30,000 kg. threshold for the maximum Base Offense Level of 38, whether or not the derived 3100.5 kg. of historical loads were included in the aggregate base offense is inconsequential. Thus, without deciding whether the district court erred when it attributed the entire $1,913,937 to drug trafficking, and when it converted the $1,913,937 into marijuana-equivalent for purposes of applying the Sentencing Guidelines, any error was harmless. 40 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 41 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392
adopting the 4-level sentencing enhancement for leading or organizing the money laundering conspiracy. “If the defendant was an organizer or leader of a criminal activity that involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive, increase [the offense level] by 4 levels.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a) (2010) (emphasis omitted). A “participant” is a person who “participate[d] knowingly in some part of the criminal enterprise.” United States v. Glinsey, 209 F.3d 386, 396 (5th Cir. 2000) (citation omitted). “In distinguishing a leadership and organizational role from one of mere management or supervision, titles . . . are not controlling.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, cmt. n.4 (2010). Instead, the sentencing court should consider (i) “the exercise of decision making authority”; (ii) “the nature of participation in the commission of the offense”; (iii) “the recruitment of accomplices”; (iv) “the claimed right to a larger share of the fruits of the crime”; (v) “the degree of participation in planning or organizing the offense”; (vi) “the nature and scope of the illegal activity”; and (vii) “the degree of control and authority exercised over others.” Id. Here, the district court adopted the PSR in full. In the PSR, the PO had observed that Salas, at a minimum, had conspired with the ML Appellants—as well as Omar Compean, Javier Hugo Perez, and Miguel Davalos—in the money laundering offenses.18 Thus, the money laundering conspiracy involved “five or more participants.” The PO also had observed that the conspiracy involved 38 different bank accounts and the movement of $1,913,937 in drug trafficking proceeds. Thus, the conspiracy was “otherwise extensive.” 18 Compean, Perez, and Davalos apparently were additional targets of the joint DEA/IRS “Operation Reload.” They are not party to this appeal. 41 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 42 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 “The district court’s determination that a defendant was a leader or organizer under subsection 3B1.1(a) is a factual finding that this court reviews for clear error.” United States v. Cabrera, 288 F.3d 163, 173 (5th Cir. 2002) (per curiam) (citation omitted). A factual finding on a sentencing factor is not clearly erroneous so “long as it is plausible in light of the record read as a whole.” United States v. Morris, 46 F.3d 410, 419 (5th Cir. 1995) (citation omitted). Here, regarding the seven factors from § 3B1.1, Salas, inter alia, had (i) recruited his wife, mother, and sister into the conspiracy; (ii) exercised authority and control over Compean, Perez, and Davalos; and (iii) disproportionately enjoyed the fruits of the conspiracy by purchasing luxury vehicles and real estate (through his co-conspirators). In light of the considerable evidence discussed throughout this opinion, and “the record read as a whole,” the district court’s determination that Salas was an organizer or leader was not clearly erroneous. Accordingly, the district court did not err by adopting the PO’s recommendation that Salas receive the 4-level leader/organizer enhancement. For the above-stated reasons, we wholly affirm Salas’s sentence, other than as discussed supra in Part VI.B with respect to the statutory maximum sentence used for Count 10. 2. The ML Appellants We proceed to the sentencing challenges raised by the three ML Appellants. First, all three Appellants challenge the district court’s decision to hold them liable for the entire $1,913,937 laundered, as opposed to just the amounts that each had personally laundered. Second, all three Appellants challenge the district court’s adoption of a 2-level sentencing enhancement for “sophisticated laundering” pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1(b)(3). Third, Lopez and Magana challenge the district court’s denial of a 2-level sentencing reduction under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b) for being a “minor participant” in the money laundering conspiracy. Fourth, Lopez challenges the district court’s denial of her 42 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 43 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 request for a downward departure under the “family ties and responsibilities” policy statement contained in U.S.S.G. § 5H1.6. Fifth and finally, all three Appellants argue that the district court insufficiently considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors. a. Additional Facts Count 10 charged each ML Appellant, inter alia, with a conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) involving the full $1,913,937 in laundered funds. The Sentencing Guideline applicable to § 1956(h) is U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1(a)(2) which, in turn, references U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1). Applying these two Guidelines to each Appellant’s § 1956(h) conviction for an offense involving more than $1,000,000 but less than $2,500,000, the PO identified a Base Offense Level of 24. For each Appellant, the PO recommended a 6-level enhancement because the Appellant knew, or should have known, that the laundered funds were drug trafficking proceeds. The PO recommended a 2-level enhancement for conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a), see U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1(b)(2) (2010), and another 2-level enhancement for laundering that involved “sophisticated” means. She declined to recommend a reduction for acceptance of responsibility. Thus, for each Appellant, the PO recommended a Total Offense Level of 34. At the sentencing hearing, Lopez and Magana each asserted entitlement to a 2-level reduction for being a “minor participant” in the money laundering conspiracy. Lopez also requested a downward departure in light of U.S.S.G. § 5H1.6’s “family ties and responsibilities” policy statement. She represented that her children would be left parentless for an extended period of time were both she and Salas given lengthy sentences. Lopez stressed that her son has special needs, which cannot be properly attended to in her absence. The district court adopted each Appellant’s PSR in full, with one limited exception. As discussed supra in Part VI.B, there were no special interrogatories specifying whether the jury convicted the Count 10 defendants for the 43 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 44 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 substantive 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a) offenses or for the 18 U.S.C. § 1957 offense. Recognizing this infirmity in the context of U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1(b)(2)’s sentencing enhancement, the court adopted the lower 1-level enhancement from § 2S1.1(b)(2)(A) (for violation of § 1957) rather than the higher 2-level enhancement from § 2S1.1(b)(2)(B) (for violation of § 1956(a)). Accordingly, the court adopted a Total Offense Level of 33. Each Appellant’s Guidelines range was “135-168” months. b. Analysis i. The District Court’s Decision to Hold Each ML Appellant Liable for the Entire $1,913,937 Laundered, As Opposed to Just the Amounts That Each Had Personally Laundered “The court need only make a reasonable estimate of the loss” (in other words, “the amount laundered”). U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1, cmt. n.3(C) (2010) (citation omitted). “The sentencing judge is in a unique position to assess the evidence and estimate the loss based upon that evidence. For this reason, the court’s loss determination is entitled to appropriate deference.” Id. (citation omitted). In calculating the Base Offense Level, “the sentencing judge holds the defendant accountable for losses due to the defendant’s own conduct as well as for those due to the defendant’s ‘relevant conduct.’” United States v. Hammond, 201 F.3d 346, 351 (5th Cir. 1999) (per curiam) (citing U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 (2010)). “A defendant’s relevant conduct includes ‘all reasonably foreseeable acts and omissions of others in furtherance of jointly undertaken criminal activity.’” Id. (quoting U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(1)(B) (2010)). “The Government [is] only required to prove the loss amount by a preponderance of the evidence.” Ollison, 555 F.3d at 164 (citation omitted). If the loss amount “is difficult or impracticable to determine, the value of the laundered funds . . . is the total amount of the commingled funds.” U.S.S.G. § 44 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 45 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 2S1.1, cmt. n.3(B); see also United States v. Jamieson, 427 F.3d 394, 404 (6th Cir. 2005) (citation omitted). The burden lies with the defendant to “provide[] sufficient information to determine the amount of criminally derived funds without unduly complicating or prolonging the sentencing process.” Id. • Lopez Here, Lopez contends (i) that at least some of the $1,913,937 was legitimately derived income; (ii) that she had not been aware of Salas’s drug trafficking; and (iii) that Via Italia was a legitimate business. The district court rejected all three contentions. With respect to Lopez’s first contention, the district court found that Lopez had not provided sufficient information or records to determine whether any of the $1,913,937 was legitimate and, therefore, presumed that all of it was illegitimate under Note 3(B) of the Commentary to U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1. Regarding Lopez’s second contention, the court found that it had been “reasonably foreseeable” to Lopez that at least some of the $1,913,937 was drug trafficking proceeds, which Lopez was then laundering through the 38 different bank accounts controlled by Salas and the other ML Appellants. Finally, concerning Lopez’s third contention, the court found that if Via Italia had indeed been a legitimate business, then Lopez would not have used one of its bank accounts to purchase the $35,000 CD that she then used as collateral for a loan. Also, Via Italia’s bank accounts would not have received $24,000 in checks from Salas, or two cross-border wire transfers from Becerra. In light of the “appropriate deference” to the district court articulated in Note 3(C) of the Commentary to U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1, we conclude that the court did not err by holding Lopez liable for the entire $1,913,937. After all, this opinion is replete with evidence that the drug trafficking and money laundering activities were “reasonably foreseeable,” and that Via Italia was a sham entity. As for Lopez’s claim that at least some of the $1,913,937 was legitimate, it 45 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 46 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 fails—even if true—because Lopez co-mingled any legitimate funds and did produce records to un-mingle them. • Galaviz Here, the district court adopted the PSR, in which the PO had found that Galaviz had (i) opened seven bank accounts and used them to launder $509,665; (ii) received a $58,692 wire transfer from Magana for no apparent legitimate purpose; (iii) engaged in the various check transactions involving the Deer Ridge lot; and (iv) allowed Salas to buy a house in her name using drug trafficking proceeds. At a minimum, Galaviz is personally responsible for those transactions, which collectively involved more than $1,000,000 in illicit funds. Accordingly, Galaviz’s liability for those transactions alone sufficiently supports her sentence. That said, the court also noted additional “relevant conduct,” which indicated that Galaviz knew Salas was a drug trafficker. See Hammond, 201 F.3d at 351 (citing U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 (2010)). Specifically, the court noted that Galaviz (i) had been a signatory on the bank account of LC Contractors (Salas’s sham construction company); (ii) had referred to Salas (her son) by his criminal alias in official documents; and (iii) had “flipped” Salas’s Patron Loop house for a $150,000 profit. In light of the “appropriate deference” this Court affords the sentencing judge’s loss determination, see U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1, cmt. n.3(C) (2010) (citation omitted), the above-recited evidence was more than sufficient to establish Galaviz’s knowledge and hold her liable for all laundering of the $1,913,937 in drug trafficking proceeds. See Hammond, 201 F.3d at 351 (“A defendant’s relevant conduct includes ‘all reasonably foreseeable acts and omissions of others in furtherance of jointly undertaken criminal activity.’” (quoting U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(1)(B) (2010))). For these reasons, we conclude that the district court did not err when it held Galaviz liable for the entire $1,913,937 laundered. 46 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 47 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 • Magana Magana contends that, at most, she should be liable for the $154,792 in funds that passed through Chase Account No. 7697, which she controlled. While Magana personally opened ten additional bank accounts during the time period applicable to this case, she asserts that those accounts were used for legitimate purposes and that at least some of them were opened jointly with either her exhusband or current boyfriend. The district court adopted the PSR, in which the PO had found that Magana had personally deposited $74,600 in cash into Chase Account No. 7697, but also had received a $52,130.51 wire transfer from Galaviz into that account. Magana worked at a hair salon at the time she deposited the $74,600 in cash, which greatly exceeded her legitimate income. Also, Galaviz lived with Magana at the time Galaviz transferred the $52,130.51. Magana was claiming Galaviz as a dependant for federal income tax purposes and, therefore, knew or should have known that Galaviz likely had not derived the $52,130.51 from legitimate sources. Magana used the funds transferred from Galaviz (in addition to the cash Magana had previously deposited) to purchase an $80,000 CD. Upon the CD’s maturation, Magana wired $25,000 of its proceeds to Becerra. She wired the remaining $58,692 of the proceeds back to Galaviz (specifically, to BBVA Compass Account No. 6826, which Galaviz controlled). There was no apparent purpose to this sequence of transactions other than to launder funds that somehow were illicit. Under Hammond, the district court did not err in holding Magana accountable for the reasonably foreseeable acts of her co-conspirators. Judge Alvarez explained to Magana at the sentencing hearing that: (i) she did not “understand how [Magana] could not have known what [her] brother was doing”; (ii) laundering drug trafficking proceeds is “part of what makes these types of operations work”; and (iii) both launderers and traffickers are “equally 47 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 48 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 responsible for the serious problem that we have, both on this side and on that side of the border.” We agree. The district court did not err by holding Magana liable for the entire $1,913,937 laundered. ii.The District Court’s Adoption of a “Sophisticated Laundering” Enhancement for Each ML Appellant U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1 prescribes a 2-level enhancement for an offense that involved “sophisticated laundering.” U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1(b)(3) (2010). “[S]ophisticated laundering means complex or intricate offense conduct pertaining to the execution or concealment of the 18 U.S.C. § 1956 offense.” Id. § 2S1.1, cmt. n.5(A) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Sophisticated laundering typically involves the use of . . . (i) fictitious entities; (ii) shell corporations; (iii) two or more levels . . . of transactions . . . involving criminally derived funds that were intended to appear legitimate; or (iv) offshore financial accounts.” Id.; see also Fernandez, 559 F.3d at 320. • Lopez Here, the district court found that Lopez had acknowledged that LC Contractors was a sham when she had conceded to CS1 that it was not in business “to make money.” Moreover, the district court found that Lopez had used Via Italia to engage in a layered transaction—involving the purchase of a CD and the use of that CD as collateral for a loan. Finally, the district court found that bank accounts controlled by Lopez or Via Italia had been used to make wire transfers of large dollar values to and from accounts in Mexico controlled by drug traffickers. Because the district court’s findings covered all of the indicia of “sophisticated” laundering provided in Note 5(A) of the Commentary to § 2S1.1, we conclude that it did not err by adopting the 2-level sentencing enhancement. • Galaviz 48 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 49 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 Here, the same evidence set forth in Part VI.C.2.b supra, concerning Galaviz’s challenge to the district court holding her liable for the entire $1,913,937 laundered, applies equally to the Note 5(A) indicia of “sophisticated laundering.” Additionally, Galaviz shared control of IBC Account No. 0654 with Lopez. Between February 2008 and April 2008, that account received $27,970 in cross-border wire transfers from Becerra in Mexico. Galaviz and Lopez also shared control of BBVA Compass Account No. 1782. Between February 2008 and May 2008, that account received $245,995 in cross-border wire transfers from Becerra, Garza-Rodriguez, and Martinez-Garcia in Mexico. Altogether, this evidence implicated every Note 5(A) indicium of “sophisticated laundering.” We therefore conclude that the district court did not err when it adopted the § 2S1.1(b)(3) sentencing enhancement. • Magana Here, as with Galaviz, the same evidence set forth in Part VI.C.2.b supra, concerning Magana’s challenge to the district court holding her liable for the entire $1,913,937 laundered, applies equally to the Note 5(A) indicia of “sophisticated laundering.” Together with the fact that Magana acted as a strawman for Galaviz in the Becerra wire transfer to Mexico, and that Magana used a CD to launder Galaviz’s transferred funds, this evidence implicated almost all of the Note 5(A) indicia. We therefore conclude that the district court did not err when it adopted the sentencing enhancement.
Participant” Reduction to Lopez and Magana U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 prescribes a 2-level reduction if a “defendant was a minor participant in [the] criminal activity.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b) (2010). A “minor participant” is a defendant who is “substantially less culpable than the average participant,” but “whose role could not be described as minimal.” Id. § 3B1.2, cmt. nn.3(A), 5. 49 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 50 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 “When a defendant timely objects to a district court’s failure to make a downward adjustment based on section 3B1.2, this court reviews [her] sentence for clear error.” United States v. Martinez-Larraga, 517 F.3d 258, 273 n.12 (5th Cir. 2008). The defendant’s participation level in the offense is not evaluated “in reference to the entire criminal enterprise of which [she was] a part.” United States v. Garcia, 242 F.3d 593, 598 (5th Cir. 2001) (citation omitted). Rather, it is evaluated in reference to “that of an average participant.” Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The defendant’s role was not minor if it was “actually coextensive with the conduct for which [she] was held accountable.” Id. at 598-99 (citations omitted). The defendant “bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, her minor role in the offense.” United States v. Zuniga, 18 F.3d 1254, 1261 (5th Cir. 1994) (citation omitted). “The sentencing court is free to consider all relevant evidence, even inadmissible evidence, in determining whether an adjustment is warranted so long as the evidence has . . . sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy.” United States v. Miranda, 248 F.3d 434, 446 (5th Cir. 2001) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). • Lopez Here, Lopez argues that because she played a lesser role in the money laundering scheme than did Salas, her role was “minor” within the meaning of § 3B1.2(b) even if not “minimal” within the meaning of § 3B1.2(a). This reasoning is flawed. After all, it only shows that Lopez was an average participant, rather than the organizer or leader. The district court found that, at a minimum, Lopez personally opened ten Wells Fargo bank accounts and laundered $361,934 in drug trafficking proceeds. Thus, her role was not “substantially less” than the other participants. We therefore conclude that the district court did not err by denying § 3B1.2(b)’s 2-level reduction. • Magana 50 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 51 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 Here, even though Magana’s name is on fewer incriminating documents than those of Lopez and Galaviz, it is apparent that Magana played at least an average role in the money laundering conspiracy, and certainly not a “substantially lesser” one. After all, the district court found that Magana had opened eleven of the 38 bank accounts used in the conspiracy and had engaged in direct contact with Becerra in Mexico. Accordingly, the district court did not clearly err in denying Magana the § 3B1.2(b) sentencing reduction.
Downward Departure Under the U.S.S.G. § 5H1.6 “Family Ties and Responsibilities” Policy Statement The district court declined to grant a downward departure for “family ties and responsibilities” because Lopez and Salas had knowingly risked the possibility their children would be left parentless by engaging in their criminal activities. Lopez challenges this denial. However, her challenge is foreclosed as a matter of law. We have “jurisdiction to review a district court’s decision not to depart downward from the guideline range only if the district court based its decision upon an erroneous belief that it lacked the authority to depart. . . . [S]omething in the record must indicate that the district court held such an erroneous belief.” United States v. Landerman, 167 F.3d 895, 899 (5th Cir. 1999) (citations omitted). Here, nothing in the record indicates that the district court erroneously believed that it lacked authority to grant a departure. Indeed, the district court expressly explained that a departure was unwarranted. Thus, this challenge is beyond our jurisdiction. We reject it without reaching the merits.
Consideration of the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) Factors with Respect to All Three ML Appellants 51 Case: 11-41376 Document: 00512323905 Page: 52 Date Filed: 07/29/2013 Nos. 11-41376 c/w 11-41392 We conclude that the district court’s consideration of the various § 3553(a) factors was sufficient. The district court, for example, noted its consideration of the principle that Lopez, Galaviz, and Magana should be sentenced similarly for similar crimes. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6). Judge Alvarez also made the following two statements in open court: (i) “The Court has, in preparing for the sentencing, also gone back and reviewed the 3553 factors as it does in every single case”; and (ii) “The Court, as I touched on, has considered the 3553 A factors.” At least on the specific facts of this case, this amounted to sufficient consideration of the § 3553(a) factors as to the three ML Appellants. Additionally, to the extent the Appellants challenge the district court’s denial of a downward departure under the § 3553(a) factors, rather than just the sufficiency of the court’s consideration of those factors, that challenge is not reviewable. See Landerman, 167 F.3d at 899 (citations omitted). VII. Applicability of the Cumulative Error Doctrine The final issue on appeal is whether the cumulative error doctrine applies to this case. The cumulative error doctrine “essentially summarizes the other issues raised” in an appeal. See United States v. Stephens, 571 F.3d 401, 411 (5th Cir. 2009) (footnote omitted). Under the doctrine, “relief may be obtained only when constitutional errors so fatally infect the trial that they violate the trial’s fundamental fairness.” Id. at 412 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Where a defendant-appellant “has not established any error . . . there is nothing to cumulate.” See United States v. McIntosh, 280 F.3d 479, 484 (5th Cir. 2002) (citation omitted). Here, other than as discussed supra regarding the statutory maximum sentence used for Count 10, Appellants have not established any errors—let alone constitutional errors that infringe upon fundamental fairness. We therefore conclude that the cumulative error doctrine does not apply.