United States v. Esteban Ibarra, Jr.

Case: 09-50627 Document: 00511099441 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/04/2010

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit

FILED
May 4, 2010
No. 09-50627
Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

ESTEBAN IBARRA, JR., also known as Taz,,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 2:08-CR-834-1

Before BENAVIDES, PRADO, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Esteban Ibarra, Jr., appeals the sentence imposed following his guilty plea
to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. Ibarra argues that
the district court clearly erred in determining the drug quantity for which he
was responsible because that quantity was based on the uncorroborated
statements of himself and his co-conspirators and, hence, was unreliable.
Ibarra’s post-arrest statements to law enforcement were detailed, were not
“bal[d] [or] conclusionary,” and were deemed credible by the district court. See

*
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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR .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: 09-50627 Document: 00511099441 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/04/2010
No. 09-50627

United States v. Narviz-Guerra, 148 F.3d 530, 537 (5th Cir. 1998) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted). The district court found that at least one
marijuana load described by Ibarra had been corroborated by a co-conspirator
that the court had previously sentenced and, additionally, that Ibarra’s post-
arrest statements corroborated the statements his co-conspirators gave to law
enforcement. Ibarra produced no evidence in rebuttal that the information he
disclosed to law enforcement was “materially untrue, inaccurate or unreliable,”
United States v. Taylor, 277 F.3d 721, 724 (5th Cir. 2001), and his objection to
the drug quantity calculation was alone insufficient to serve as competent
rebuttal evidence. See United States v. Lowder, 148 F.3d 548, 553 (5th Cir.
1998). In the absence of rebuttal evidence from Ibarra, the district court did not
clearly err in relying on the presentence report in calculating the amount of
marijuana involved. See United States v. Gracia, 983 F.2d 625, 629-30 & n.20
(5th Cir. 1993).
AFFIRMED.

2