UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 01-4628
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
CAROLE LUCILLE COOPER,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, at Parkersburg. Joseph Robert Goodwin,
District Judge. (CR-00-262)
Submitted: April 25, 2002 Decided: May 2, 2002
Before WILLIAMS and KING, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Carl J. Dascoli, Jr., MICHAEL R. CLINE LAW OFFICES, Charleston,
West Virginia, for Appellant. Kasey Warner, United States Attorney,
Miller A. Bushong, III, Assistant United States Attorney,
Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Carole Lucille Cooper pled guilty to conspiracy to commit
money laundering, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1956(h) (West 2000), and was
sentenced to a term of seventy months imprisonment. Cooper seeks
to appeal her sentence, arguing that the district court erred in
declining to depart below the guideline range on the ground that
the number of criminal history points she had accumulated over-
represented the seriousness of her prior criminal conduct. U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4A1.3, p.s. (2000).
A defendant may not appeal the sentencing court’s decision not
to depart below the guideline unless the court’s decision resulted
from an erroneous belief that it lacked the authority to depart.
United States v. Bayerle, 898 F.2d 28, 31 (4th Cir. 1990). Here,
the district court acknowledged that it had the authority to depart
under § 4A1.3, but determined that a departure was not appropriate.
We therefore dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would not
aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED
2