Case: 20-20451 Document: 00516143550 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/23/2021
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
December 23, 2021
No. 20-20451 Lyle W. Cayce
Summary Calendar Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellant,
versus
Laura Longoria,
Defendant—Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:19-CR-476-2
Before Owen, Chief Judge, and Dennis and Ho, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Laura Longoria pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to
distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a
detectable amount of methamphetamine. Over the Government’s objection,
the district court sentenced Longoria below the statutory minimum to a term
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 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opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited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 Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 20-20451 Document: 00516143550 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/23/2021
No. 20-20451
of seventy-eight months’ imprisonment along with a five-year term of
supervised release. The Government timely appealed.
Under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(viii), a conviction for conspiring to
possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance
containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine triggers a ten-year
mandatory minimum term of imprisonment. “Absent a statutory exception,
a district court lacks authority to impose a sentence below this minimum.”
United States v. Sealed Appellee, 887 F.3d 707, 709 (5th Cir. 2018) (per
curiam) (citing United States v. Carter, 595 F.3d 575, 578-79 (5th Cir. 2010)).
Because the district court did not purport to apply a statutory
exception to the mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment, we agree
with the parties that the sentence of imprisonment should be VACATED,
and that the matter should be REMANDED for resentencing. On remand,
the district court should determine whether a statutory exception to the
mandatory minimum sentence applies and resentence Longoria accordingly.
2