IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 01-60338
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
BRUCE G. CARVER, SR.,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 1:99-CR-70-1
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January 31, 2002
Before DeMOSS, PARKER, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges:
PER CURIAM:*
Bruce Carver appeals his sentence following a jury conviction
for obtaining money by fraud under a federal program, making false
writings in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of
Education, and conspiracy to commit these offenses. He argues that
the district court erred as follows: (1) in awarding him a two-
level sentence enhancement based on his supervisory role in the
*
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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be
published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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.
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offense; (2) in awarding him a two-level sentence enhancement for
abuse of a position of trust; and (3) in refusing to depart
downward more than three levels from the applicable Sentencing
Guidelines.
"A sentence will be upheld unless it was imposed in violation
of law, was an incorrect application of the sentencing guidelines,
or is outside the range of the applicable sentencing guideline."
United States v. Ocana, 204 F.3d 585, 588 (5th Cir.), cert. denied,
531 U.S. 880 (2000). A district court's finding that a defendant
is an organizer or leader pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1 is a factual
finding reviewed for clear error, as is a finding pursuant to
U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3 that the defendant abused a position of trust.
United States v. Dadi, 235 F.3d 945, 951 (5th Cir. 2000) (U.S.S.G.
§ 3B1.1), cert. denied, 121 S. Ct. 2230 (2001); United States v.
Brown, 7 F.3d 1155, 1161 (5th Cir. 1993) (U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3). We
hold that the district court did not clearly err in enhancing
Carver’s sentence a total of four levels based on its findings that
he played a supervisory role in the offense and that, as both a
police officer and inmate instructor, he abused a position of
public trust when he engaged in the criminal activity at issue.
The district court’s decision as to the extent of a downward
departure is within its near complete discretion. See United
States v. Cooper, __ F.3d__ (5th Cir. Nov. 26, 2001, No. 00-30208)
2001 WL 1504530, at *13. The extent of departure is unreviewable
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unless it is otherwise in violation of federal statutory or
constitutional law, neither of which Carver argues is applicable.
United States v. Alvarez, 51 F.3d 36, 41 (5th Cir. 1995). We
therefore hold that the district court did not abuse its near
complete discretion in refusing any further downward departure.
AFFIRMED.
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