United States v. Ruben Isaac

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: October 7, 2019
• Docket: 18-11501
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Case: 18-11501 Document: 00515147762 Page: 1 Date Filed: 10/07/2019

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 18-11501 FILED Summary Calendar October 7, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

RUBEN JOE ISAAC,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 4:18-CR-127-1

Before WIENER, HAYNES, and COSTA, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: * Defendant-Appellant Ruben Joe Isaac appeals his 224-month sentence imposed following his guilty plea conviction for one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. He contends that his sentence is substantively unreasonable because the district court afforded significant weight to and mischaracterized his criminal history while ignoring the significant assistance he provided to law enforcement.

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 18-11501 Document: 00515147762 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/07/2019

No. 18-11501

Isaac’s substantive reasonableness challenge is unavailing. As a general rule, we lack jurisdiction to consider a challenge to the extent of a U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 departure. United States v. Malone, 828 F.3d 331, 341 (5th Cir. 2016). “District courts have almost complete discretion to determine the extent of a departure under § 5K1.1,” a so defendant may only appeal the extent of such a departure only if it was imposed in violation of the law. United States v. Hashimoto, 193 F.3d 840, 843 (5th Cir. 1999). Isaac has made no such showing. AFFIRMED.