United States v. Long, No. 11-20726 (5th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his sentence stemming from his conviction of charges related to his involvement in a street gang that trafficked large amounts of cocaine powder and base. Defendant claimed that the Government agreed in an e-mail exchange that it would not seek a leader/organizer enhancement under U.S.S.G. 3B1.1(a) and that the Government breached the plea agreement by supporting the enhancement recommendation in the presentence report. The court held that the Government did not breach the plea agreement; defendant's claim that the e-mail exchange at issue was part of the plea agreement because it reasonably induced him to plead guilty was unavailing; defendant did not identify, nor has the court discovered, any case in which a court looked beyond a cover letter attached to a plea agreement; and defendant's reliance on the e-mail exchange would be unreasonable in light of the plea agreement's merger clause stating that the written plea agreement constituted the complete agreement among the parties involved. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's judgment.
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