Phillips v. USPC

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT ______________________________________ No. 98-60301 Summary Calendar ______________________________________ CONWAY PHILLIPS, JR., Petitioner, versus UNITED STATES PAROLE COMMISSION, Respondent. _____________________________________________ Appeal from the Determination of the United States Parole Commission (18 U.S.C. § 4106A) _____________________________________________ April 7, 1999 Before JOLLY, SMITH, AND WIENER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Conway Phillips, a/k/a Jihad Aziz Bihal, was arrested in Mexico and convicted of transporting marijuana. A Mexican court sentenced him to serve 10 years. Pursuant to the United States- Mexico Treaty on the Execution of Penal Sentences,2 Phillips was transferred to the United States to serve his sentence. After the transfer, the Parole Commission (the “Commission”) held a hearing * 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 R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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. 2 Treaty on Executions of Penal Sentences, Nov. 25, 1976, U.S.- Mex., 28 U.S.T. 7399, T.I.A.S. No. 8718 [“Treaty”]. to determine his release date and ordered Phillips to serve 52 months based, in part, on its determination that Phillips had been arrested transporting 89 kilograms of marijuana, as reflected in the Mexican sentencing documents. Phillips appeals the Commission’s release date determination, challenging the Commission’s finding concerning the quantity of drugs involved in his offense. We affirm. I. Standard of Review We review de novo the Commission’s determination of the release date for a prisoner transferred to the United States under the Treaty.3 “We will uphold the sentence unless it