USA v. Terri Fields

Filing

UNPUBLISHED OPINION FILED. [09-31133 Affirmed ] Judge: JLW , Judge: RHB , Judge: FPB Mandate pull date is 11/02/2010 for Appellant Terri Lynn Fields [09-31133]

USA v. Terri Fields

Doc. 0

Case: 09-31133

Document: 00511259838

Page: 1

Date Filed: 10/12/2010

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS United States Court of Appeals FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Fifth Circuit FILED
N o . 09-31133 S u m m a r y Calendar October 12, 2010 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk

U N IT E D STATES OF AMERICA, P la in t iff - Appellee v. T E R R I LYNN FIELDS, D e fe n d a n t - Appellant

A p p e a l from the United States District Court fo r the Western District of Louisiana U S D C No. 2:08-CR-228-3

B e fo r e WIENER, BARKSDALE, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges. P E R CURIAM:* T e r r i Lynn Fields appeals her 27-month sentence imposed after she p le a d e d guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens. Fields c o n t e n d s the district court should not have applied a nine-level enhancement u n d e r § 2L1.1(b)(2)(C) of the sentencing guidelines, based on finding the c o n s p ir a c y involved transporting more than 100 unlawful aliens. Because Fields failed to object on this basis in district court, we review o n ly for plain error. See United States v. Mondragon-Santiago, 564 F.3d 357,
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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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.
*

Dockets.Justia.com

Case: 09-31133

Document: 00511259838 Page: 2 No. 09-31133

Date Filed: 10/12/2010

3 6 1 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 130 S. Ct. 192 (2009). To show reversible plain error, F ie ld s must show a clear or obvious error that affects her substantial rights. Puckett v. United States, 129 S. Ct. 1423, 1429 (2009). Even then, this court has d is c r e t i o n to correct such an error; generally, we will do so only if the error s e r io u s ly affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial p r o c e e d in g s . Id. In general, a finding of fact can never constitute plain error. See United S ta te s v. Lee, 368 F. App'x 548, 552 (5th Cir. 2010) (citing United States v. Lopez, 9 2 3 F.2d 47, 50 (5th Cir. 1991)). In any event, this challenge on appeal will be c o n s id e r e d a challenge to the basis for the finding at issue. In that regard, the d is t r ic t court adopted the presentence investigation report's (PSR) calculation t h a t the conspiracy involved transporting at least 162 unlawful aliens, a figure b a s e d on admissions by Fields and statements and testimony by her coc o n s p i r a t o r s . The district court was entitled to rely upon this because it bore " s o m e indicia of reliability". United States v. Scher, 601 F.3d 408, 413 (5th Cir. 2 0 1 0 ). Fields has failed to produce rebuttal evidence to demonstrate the

in fo r m a t io n in the PSR inaccurate or materially untrue, see id., and thus has s h o w n no error, see Puckett, 129 S. Ct. at 1429. A F F IR M E D .

2