United States v. Malone, Jr., No. 14-31426 (5th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute AM-2201, a controlled substance analogue. On appeal, defendants challenged their sentences of 117 months of imprisonment. The court concluded that, to the extent defendants challenge the district court’s reliance on the 1:167 ratio for converting THC into marijuana, their arguments are similarly unavailing; even if the district court erred by not recognizing its discretion under Kimbrough v. United States, the error was harmless; any error the district court committed in considering non-assistance-related factors in reducing the extent of their U.S.S.G. 5K1.1 departures was harmless; the court does not review the district court's decision to limit a U.S.S.G. 5K1.1 departure for reasonableness and the district court is vested with complete discretion to determine the size of such a departure; and the district court did not clearly err in balancing the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) sentencing factors. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on July 6, 2016.
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