United States v. Jackson

Opinion

Case: 22-30796 Document: 00516997059 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/11/2023

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 22-30796 Summary Calendar FILED ____________ December 11, 2023 Lyle W. Cayce United States of America, Clerk

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Jerome Jackson,

Defendant—Appellant. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 6:20-CR-48-7 ______________________________

Before King, Haynes, and Graves, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: * Jerome Jackson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin. He now argues that he should not have been sentenced as a career offender and that his guidelines range calculation should have included a mitigating role reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2.

_____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5. Case: 22-30796 Document: 00516997059 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/11/2023

No. 22-30796

First, Jackson correctly concedes that our recent en banc decision in United States v. Vargas, 74 F.4th 673, 680-90 (5th Cir. 2023) (en banc), petition for cert. filed (U.S. Oct. 23, 2023) (No. 23-5875), forecloses his argument that his conspiracy conviction was not a controlled substance offense for purpose of the career offender enhancement. Second, based on the record evidence of the content of Jackson’s recorded conversations with the leader of the conspiracy, the district court did not clearly err in concluding that he was not entitled to a § 3B1.2 mitigating role reduction. See United States v. Bello-Sanchez, 872 F.3d 260, 263-65 (5th Cir. 2017); United States v. Castro, 843 F.3d 608, 613-14 (5th Cir. 2016). AFFIRMED.