United States v. Maldonado

* 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that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent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.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
February 9, 2004
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-40416
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
MARIA MALDONADO,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. C-02-CR-310-1
--------------------
Before JONES, BENAVIDES, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Maria Maldonado was convicted of violating 21 U.S.C.
§§ 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 after a border search
revealed cocaine hidden on her person. Appealing her sentence,
Maldonado argues that the district court’s determination that her
testimony was not credible, and hence that she did not merit
relief under U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2, was not supported by evidence in
the record. Because the district court identified several

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No. 03-40416
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specific suspicious elements of Maldonado’s account that she was
not able to satisfactorily render clear, the district court’s
factual finding that Maldonado had not been sufficiently truthful
“is plausible in light of the record as a whole”. See United
States v. Edwards, 65 F.3d 430, 432 (5th Cir. 1995); United
States v. Flanagan, 80 F.3d 143, 145 (5th Cir. 1996). The ruling
of the district court is AFFIRMED.

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