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

No. 19-30488 FILED April 30, 2020 Lyle W. Cayce UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Clerk

Plaintiff–Appellee, v. RODERICK DOUGLAS,

Defendant–Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana

Before OWEN, Chief Judge, and HIGGINBOTHAM and WILLETT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Roderick Douglas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 371 to commit a deprivation of civil rights, an offense defined by 18 U.S.C. § 242, and was sentenced to sixty months in prison. On appeal, he asserts that the district court incorrectly calculated the advisory Guidelines range of imprisonment and contends that the district court erred in denying his request for a downward variance. We affirm the judgment. I While serving as corrections officers at the Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana, Roderick Douglas and four co-defendants came to suspect five Case: 19-30488 Document: 00515400445 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/30/2020

No. 19-30488 inmates of being affiliated with gangs. The inmates were questioned extensively, but none admitted to gang affiliation. Douglas, then a captain in the correctional guard force, and his co-defendants took the inmates to an area of the prison with no security cameras. The inmates were made to kneel while their hands were handcuffed behind their backs. Douglas approached the first inmate and asked if he was in a gang. After the inmate repeatedly denied his involvement in a gang, Douglas “sprayed the handcuffed inmate directly in the eyes with pepper spray.” Douglas then approached a second inmate and made similar inquiries. In response to the second inmate’s similar denials, Douglas likewise sprayed pepper spray in the second inmate’s eyes. At that point, Douglas handed the pepper spray to one of his co- defendants. Three of Douglas’s co-defendants then “took [turns] spraying the remaining inmates in the eyes.” As Douglas would later admit, “[e]ach inmate was handcuffed, compliant, not posing a physical threat to anyone, and not evading or struggling with any officer at the time he was sprayed.” Following this ordeal, the inmates were taken to a medical station for treatment. In an attempt to avoid suspicion, Douglas and his co-defendants filed false reports alleging that it became necessary to use pepper spray when, after questioning the inmates about their gang affiliations, one of the inmates attempted to escape. According to the falsified reports, the remaining inmates were only inadvertently sprayed while officers attempted to subdue the inmate who was attempting to escape. Douglas likewise lied about the incident when he later spoke via phone with the warden of the facility. For their actions, Douglas and his co-defendants were charged in a seven-count indictment with offenses ranging from conspiracy to deprive civil rights to conspiracy to obstruct justice. In exchange for the government dismissing the remaining charges against him, Douglas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a deprivation of civil rights, an offense under 18 U.S.C. 2 Case: 19-30488 Document: 00515400445 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/30/2020

No. 19-30488 § 371. Thereafter, a United States Probation Officer pr