Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-14-01884/USCOURTS-ca8-14-01884-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Jose Carlos Montoya-Echeverria
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eighth Circuit

___________________________

No. 14-1884

___________________________

United States of America,

lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

Jose Carlos Montoya-Echeverria,

lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant.

____________

 Appeal from United States District Court 

for the Northern District of Iowa - Sioux City

____________

 Submitted: October 6, 2014

 Filed: April 13, 2015

[Unpublished]

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Before LOKEN, BEAM, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Jose Montoya-Echeverria pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry to the United

States after a previous removal, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1). The district

Appellate Case: 14-1884 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/13/2015 Entry ID: 4264419 
court sentenced him to 41 months in prison. Montoya-Echeverria appeals his

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sentence, and we affirm.

In calculating the advisory sentencing guideline range for MontoyaEcheverria’s offense, the district court applied a sixteen-level specific offense

characteristic because the defendant previously was deported after a conviction for

a crime of violence. See USSG § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A). The court determined that

Montoya-Echeverria’s convictions for domestic abuse assault under Iowa Code

§ 708.2A(2)(c) and first degree harassment under Iowa Code § 708.7(2) qualified as

crimes of violence. As a result, the court determined an advisory guideline range of

41 to 51 months’ imprisonment, and sentenced the defendant to 41 months. 

The court explained, alternatively, that even if there were no sixteen-level

increase for removal after a crime of violence, the court would have imposed the same

sentence based on the facts that led to Montoya-Echeverria’s prior convictions for

domestic abuse assault and first degree harassment. In that incident, MontoyaEcheverria went to the home of a woman with whom he shares a child and questioned

her about her boyfriend. When she refused to answer, he began to choke her, then

displayed a firearm, forced it into her mouth, and asked whether she wasready to die. 

When she did not respond, he removed the gun and departed.

Montoya-Echeverria argues on appeal that there was procedural error in

calculating the advisory guideline range because his convictions for domestic abuse

assault and first degree harassment were not crimes of violence. Even assuming for

the sake of analysis that his argument has merit, the district court was clear that it

would have imposed the same sentence based on 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), regardless of

the guideline calculation and USSG § 2L1.2. Any error in calculating the advisory

The Honorable Mark W. Bennett, United States District Judge for the

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Northern District of Iowa.

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range was therefore harmless. United States v. Sayles, 674 F.3d 1069, 1072 (8th Cir.

2012); United States v. Henson, 550 F.3d 739, 741 (8th Cir. 2008).

The judgment of the district court is affirmed.

______________________________

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Appellate Case: 14-1884 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/13/2015 Entry ID: 4264419