Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
Damario Lyons pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, or 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. The district court sentenced him to 324 months in prison.
Lyons appealed two components of the Guidelines calculation. He challenged a two-level enhancement for maintaining a premises for drug distribution under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(12) and a two-level enhancement for an aggravating role in the offense under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c).
The Court’s Holding
The Fifth Circuit affirmed. It held that the facts in the presentence report had sufficient indicia of reliability to support their probable accuracy and that Lyons had not rebutted those facts.
After reviewing the full record, including the presentence report, the court concluded that Lyons had not shown clear error in the district court’s application of either the drug-premises enhancement or the aggravating-role enhancement. The court therefore left the 324-month sentence intact.
Key Takeaways
- A district court may rely on unrebutted facts in a presentence report when those facts bear sufficient indicia of reliability.
- Lyons failed to establish clear error in the application of the two-level drug-premises enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(12).
- Lyons also failed to establish clear error in the application of the two-level aggravating-role enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c).
Why It Matters
The decision underscores the importance of specifically rebutting reliable factual assertions in a presentence report. When those assertions remain unrebutted, they may support sentencing enhancements on appellate review.
It also illustrates the deferential clear-error standard governing appellate review of fact-dependent Guidelines enhancements for maintaining a drug premises and exercising an aggravating role.