Court Opinion

ID: 9370070
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-10 19:00:25.722011+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:19.468759
License: Public Domain

Case: 21-51181        Document: 00516641820             Page: 1      Date Filed: 02/10/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________
                                                                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                       Fifth Circuit
                                      No. 21-51181
                                    Summary Calendar                                 FILED
                                    ____________                              February 10, 2023
                                                                                Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                         Clerk

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Monica Jean Jimenez,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                              USDC No. 3:21-CR-443-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Smith, Southwick, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Monica Jean Jimenez appeals the 120-month prison sentence imposed
   for her guilty plea conviction for possession with intent to distribute 500
   grams or more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of
   methamphetamine. The 120-month sentence imposed was the mandatory
   minimum sentence pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A).

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 21-51181      Document: 00516641820           Page: 2   Date Filed: 02/10/2023

                                     No. 21-51181

          Jimenez asserts that she was entitled to a downward departure
   pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5H1.3 based on her history of trauma and various
   mental conditions and that her sentence was substantively unreasonable. We
   ordinarily lack authority to review a district court’s refusal to depart below a
   statutory minimum, but we may review de novo a district court’s decision
   that it lacked the authority to do so. See United States v. James, 468 F.3d 245,
   246-47 (5th Cir. 2006). The Government did not move for a downward
   departure based on substantial assistance under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e), and
   Jimenez was ineligible for a safety valve reduction under § 3553(f). See
   § 3553(f). Accordingly, the district court correctly determined that it lacked
   the authority to grant Jimenez’s request for a sentence below the mandatory
   minimum, and her sentence was therefore not unreasonable. See United
   States v. Phillips, 382 F.3d 489, 499 (5th Cir. 2004); see also United States v.
   Harper, 527 F.3d 396, 411 (5th Cir. 2008).
          The district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.

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