Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-14-50699/USCOURTS-ca5-14-50699-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Roberto Simon Garcia-Lara
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-50699

Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

ROBERTO SIMON GARCIA-LARA,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Texas

USDC No. 2:13-CR-1336-1

Before REAVLEY, DENNIS, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Roberto Simon Garcia-Lara appeals the 80-month within-guidelines 

sentence he received for his guilty plea to illegal reentry. Garcia-Lara argues 

that his sentence is greater than necessary to meet the sentencing goals of 18 

U.S.C. § 3553(a). He specifically contends that the guidelines sentencing range 

was too severe because his prior burglary conviction was used to enhance his 

offense level under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 and to increase his criminal history score, 

* 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.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

April 22, 2015

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

 

Case: 14-50699 Document: 00513016421 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/22/2015
No. 14-50699

because his motive for returning to the United States was to work, because his 

offense was essentially an international trespass, and because his longest prior 

sentence was three years. He argues that his within-guidelines sentence 

should not be afforded a presumption of reasonableness because the illegal 

reentry Guideline, § 2L1.2, lacks an empirical basis.

We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence for an abuse of 

discretion. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). A presumption of 

reasonableness applies to Garcia-Lara’s within-guidelines sentence. See

United States v. Alonzo, 435 F.3d 551, 554 (5th Cir. 2006). As Garcia-Lara 

correctly concedes, the argument that a presumption of reasonableness should 

not apply to his sentence because § 2L1.2 lacks empirical support has been 

rejected by this court. See United States v. Duarte, 569 F.3d 528, 529-31 (5th 

Cir. 2009); United States v. Mondragon-Santiago, 564 F.3d 357, 366-67 (5th 

Cir. 2009). We have also rejected the arguments that illegal reentry is merely 

an international trespass offense that is treated too harshly under § 2L1.2, see 

United States v. Aguirre-Villa, 460 F.3d 681, 683 (5th Cir. 2006), and that a 

sentence imposed pursuant to § 2L1.2 is greater than necessary to meet 

§ 3553(a)’s goals as a result of any double counting inherent in that Guideline, 

see Duarte, 569 F.3d at 529-31. 

Garcia-Lara’s contentions regarding his mitigating factors and benign 

motive do not rebut the presumption of reasonableness. See United States v. 

Cooks, 589 F.3d 173, 186 (5th Cir. 2009); see also United States v. GomezHerrera, 523 F.3d 554, 565-66 (5th Cir. 2008). Accordingly, the judgment of 

the district court is AFFIRMED.

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Case: 14-50699 Document: 00513016421 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/22/2015