United States v. Bong Kang

MEMORANDUM *

The United States appeals the district court’s sentence imposed on Dai Bong Kang and Hyun Ju Lee following their convictions pursuant to guilty pleas to the use of a communication device in facilitating the commission of a federal drug crime, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843 (b). After careful consideration of the briefs, the record, and oral argument, we affirm the judgment of the district court. Because the parties are well familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we will not recount it here.

The district court did not err as a matter of law in departing downward from the maximum sentence authorized for a violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843 (b). The district court reasoned that, where a maximum statutorily authorized sentence is less than the applicable guideline range, the statutory maximum was the appropriate point from which to depart downward. However, it is not necessary for us to reach the question of whether the district court erred in its specific methodology, an issue of some complexity under these somewhat unusual circumstances because, given our careful consideration of the entire record, we conclude that none of the alleged errors…