Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-14-40551/USCOURTS-ca5-14-40551-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Noel David Ramirez-Bertran
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-40551

Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

NOEL DAVID RAMIREZ-BERTRAN,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Texas

USDC No. 2:13-CR-1101-1

Before JOLLY, DENNIS, and PRADO, Circuit Judges. 

PER CURIAM:*

Noel David Ramirez-Bertran pleaded guilty to illegal reentry in violation 

of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(2), and he was sentenced to 27 months of 

imprisonment. Ramirez-Bertran now challenges the district court’s 

calculation of his guidelines sentencing range. He concedes that he did not 

object on this basis in the district court, however, and we review the issue only 

 

* 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

August 10, 2015

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

 Case: 14-40551 Document: 00513148247 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/10/2015
No. 14-40551

2

for plain error. See United States v. Rodriguez-Escareno, 700 F.3d 751, 753 

(5th Cir. 2012).

The district court applied a 12-level drug-trafficking enhancement 

pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(B) based on Ramirez-Bertran’s 2009 

Virginia conviction for manufacture of a controlled substance under § 18.2-248

of the Virginia Code. Ramirez-Bertran maintains that nothing in the record 

shows under which particular subsection of the Virginia statute he was 

convicted and that this court must therefore decide whether the least culpable 

conduct under the statute, i.e., giving away or possessing with intent to give 

away a small quantity of a controlled substance for no remuneration, 

constitutes a drug-trafficking offense for purposes of § 2L1.2, comment. 

(n.1(B)(iv)). This court recently held that an enhancement under § 2L1.2(b) for 

a prior drug-trafficking conviction, as that term is defined by the Sentencing 

Commission in § 2L1.2, comment. (n.1(B)(iv)), is warranted regardless of 

whether the conviction for the prior offense required proof of remuneration or 

commercial activity. See United States v. Martinez-Lugo, 782 F.3d 198, 204-05 

(5th Cir. 2015), petition for cert. filed (June 19, 2015) (No. 14-10355). 

Accordingly, the district court did not commit error, plain or otherwise, in 

applying the § 2L1.2(b) enhancement.

AFFIRMED.

 Case: 14-40551 Document: 00513148247 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/10/2015