United States v. David Ledesma


Case: 17-10969 Document: 00514668783 Page: 1 Date Filed: 10/04/2018 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals No. 17-10969 Fifth Circuit FILED October 4, 2018 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Plaintiff - Appellee v. DAVID VINCENT LEDESMA, Defendant - Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 3:17-CR-71-1 Before JOLLY, ELROD, and WILLETT, Circuit Judges. E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:* Defendant-Appellant David Vincent Ledesma appeals his forty-six- month sentence for possession of a firearm as a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Ledesma argues that the district court erred by applying a four- level enhancement for possessing a firearm in connection with a drug offense. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (“U.S.S.G.”) § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B) (U.S. Sentencing Comm’n 2017). Because the record does not support a finding that * 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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: 17-10969 Document: 00514668783 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/04/2018 No. 17-10969 the firearm facilitated Ledesma’s drug possession, we VACATE the sentence and REMAND for re-sentencing. I. On October 27, 2016, Dallas Police Department officers were assisting with an immigration investigation at a building that housed an illegal game room upstairs. The game room had been the location of several arrests for drugs, guns, stolen vehicles, and parole and probation violations. The officers informed the owner of the building of the problems they had experienced with the game room, and he invited them to accompany him upstairs to the room. A man who was standing at the bottom of the stairs saw the officers approaching and immediately ran up the stairs. Officers chased the man upstairs, where they encountered Ledesma. An officer performed a pat-down and found a loaded .9-millimeter handgun in Ledesma’s right pants pocket. A second officer performed a search incident to arrest and found .23 grams of methamphetamine and a methamphetamine pipe in his left pants pocket. Ledesma was initially arrested on state charges for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a controlled substance. He was later indicted by a federal grand jury for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Ledesma pled guilty and, according to the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR), his base offense level was fourteen. Because he possessed a firearm in connection with another felony offense, a four-level increase pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B) applied. After accounting for a three- level reduction for acceptance of responsibility, the PSR calculated Ledesma’s total offense level as fifteen. Based on Ledesma’s criminal history category of VI, his guideline sentencing range was determined to be forty-one to fifty-one months. 2 Case: 17-10969 Document: 00514668783 Page: 3 Date Filed: 10/04/2018 No. 17-10969 During the sentencing hearing, the Government called the arresting officer, who testified that based on ...

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