United States of America v. Cassandra Hope Hapip

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________
No. 23-3006
___________________________
United States of America
Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Cassandra Hope Hapip
Defendant - Appellant
____________
Appeal from United States District Court
for the District of North Dakota
____________
Submitted: March 11, 2024
Filed: May 9, 2024
[Unpublished]
____________
Before GRUENDER, SHEPHERD, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.
____________
PER CURIAM.
In 2021, Cassandra Hope Hapip served time in prison after pleading guilty to
one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled
substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. After serving her sentence, Hapip

-- 1 of 2 --

-2-
violated the terms of her supervised release. The district court1 sentenced Hapip to
twelve months of imprisonment to be followed by a two-year term of supervised
release. Hapip appealed and argued the district court procedurally erred and
imposed a substantively unreasonable sentence. During the pendency of her appeal,
Hapip was released from prison. Because she only challenged her custodial sentence
on appeal, there is no longer a case or controversy. See Owen v. United States, 930
F.3d 989, 990 (8th Cir. 2019) (“The mere fact that [a defendant] is serving an
unexpired, unchallenged term of supervised release does not sustain an actual
controversy.”). Thus, we dismiss the appeal as moot.
______________________________
1 The Honorable Daniel M. Traynor, United States District Judge for the
District of North Dakota.

-- 2 of 2 --