Court Opinion

ID: 9375324
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-27 16:00:45.815956+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:57.816553
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50018         Document: 00516654146              Page: 1       Date Filed: 02/23/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                                                                     United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                              Fifth Circuit
                                       No. 22-50018
                                     Summary Calendar                                       FILED
                                                                                     February 23, 2023
                                                                                       Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                                Clerk

                                                                        Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                              versus

   Ernesto Fermin Rodriguez,

                                                                    Defendant—Appellant.

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                              USDC No. 7:21-CR-207-1

   Before Jones, Haynes, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         Ernesto Fermin Rodriguez pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after
   being convicted of a felony, and he was sentenced to 120 months of
   imprisonment and three years of supervised release. Rodriguez challenges
   his sentence on appeal, arguing that he was entitled to a reduction in his

         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50018       Document: 00516654146         Page: 2    Date Filed: 02/23/2023

                                    No. 22-50018

   sentence pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 because he timely pleaded guilty and
   accepted responsibility for his firearm offense.
            The district court declined to award an adjustment for acceptance of
   responsibility because Rodriguez had not voluntarily terminated and
   withdrawn from criminal conduct. See § 3E1.1 comment. (n.1(B)). The
   district court’s decision was supported by sufficiently reliable and unrebutted
   evidence in the presentence report that (1) Rodriguez assaulted another
   inmate at the detention facility where he was held following his arrest in
   connection with the underlying offense and (2) during a random search of
   Rodriguez’s cell at the detention facility, staff found a toothbrush sharpened
   at one end—a shank— under Rodriguez’s pillow. See United States v. Harris,
   702 F.3d 226, 230-31 (5th Cir. 2012); see also United States v. Peterson, 977
   F.3d 381, 397 (5th Cir. 2020). Accordingly, the district court’s determination
   to deny the adjustment under § 3E1.1(a) was not without foundation. See
   United States v. Hinojosa-Almance, 977 F.3d 407, 411 (5th Cir. 2020) (“It is
   not reversible error for the district court to deny a § 3E1.1(a) reduction where
   the defendant broke the law while on bond, even where those violations were
   not directly related to the underlying criminal conduct with which he was
   charged.”); see also United States v. Watkins, 911 F.2d 983, 985 (5th Cir.
   1990).
            The district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.

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