Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-06-03548/USCOURTS-ca8-06-03548-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Arnoldo Solis-Bermudez
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

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

District of Iowa. 

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

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No. 06-3548

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United States of America,

Appellee,

v.

Arnoldo Solis-Bermudez,

Appellant.

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Appeal from the United States

District Court for the

Northern District of Iowa.

 [PUBLISHED]

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Submitted: May 16, 2007 

 Filed: September 13, 2007

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Before MURPHY, HANSEN, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges. 

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HANSEN, Circuit Judge.

Arnoldo Solis-Bermudez pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States

after being deported subsequent to his conviction for commission of an aggravated

felony. See 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b)(2). The district court1

 calculated the advisory

sentencing Guidelines range to be 37 to 46 months, and sentenced Solis-Bermudez to

60 months of imprisonment. Solis-Bermudez appeals his sentence. We affirm.

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We accept the facts set forth in the presentence investigation report (PSR) as

true because Solis-Bermudez did not dispute, and does not now dispute, the PSR's

factual findings. See United States v. Wintermute, 443 F.3d 993, 1005 (8th Cir.

2006).

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I.

Solis-Bermudez is a Mexican national who entered the United States illegally

as early as 1989.2

 In 1997, Solis-Bermudez was convicted of the sale or transportation

of a controlled substance in California state court. He was sentenced to 120 days of

imprisonment and 3 years of probation. After serving his sentence, Solis-Bermudez

was deported. Sometime thereafter, he illegally reentered the country and was

deported for the second time in 2003. But Solis-Bermudez was not deterred; he

illegally entered the country for the third time, and in Iowa state court in 2004, he

pleaded guilty to two counts of lascivious acts with a child for sexually assaulting his

7- and 8-year old nieces. For these offenses, Solis-Bermudez was sentenced to two

concurrent five-year prison terms.

 While serving his Iowa sentence, Solis-Bermudez was indicted for illegally

reentering the country after having been deported subsequent to an aggravated felony,

in violation of 8 U.S.C. §1326(a), (b)(2). Solis-Bermudez pleaded guilty, and the

district court accepted his plea. 

At sentencing, the district court determined that the advisory Guidelines

sentencing range was 37 to 46 months, based on an offense level of 17 and a criminalhistory category of IV. Solis-Bermudez moved for both a downward departure and

a downward variance, arguing that his criminal history category overrepresented his

criminal history. The government resisted the motion but did not request an upward

departure or variance. The United States Probation Office, on the other hand,

recommended that the district court both depart and vary upward to 84 months.

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The district court denied Solis-Bermudez's motion for a downward departure

and his motion for a downward variance. The district court also declined to impose

a traditional upward departure under the Guidelines, but the district court did impose

a sentence 14 months above the upper end of the advisory Guidelines range. The

district court further ordered Solis-Bermudez's 60-month sentence to run consecutive

to his Iowa state sentence. This appeal follows.

II.

The only issue raised on appeal is whether the district court abused its

discretion by imposing a non-Guidelines sentence. The parties do not dispute the

accuracy of the district court's advisory Guidelines calculation. 

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker, 543

U.S. 220 (2005), we review sentences to determine "whether the district court abused

its discretion by imposing an unreasonable sentence on the defendant." United States

v. Haack, 403 F.3d 997, 1003 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 913 (2005). A district

court abuses its discretion if "(1) [it] fails to consider a relevant factor that should have

received significant weight; (2) [it] gives significant weight to an improper or

irrelevant factor; or (3) [it] considers only the appropriate factors but in weighing

those factors commits a clear error of judgment." Id. at 1004 (internal marks omitted).

Since Booker, we have attempted to carefully distinguish between sentencing

departures, which are provided for in Chapter 5, Part K of the United States

Sentencing Guidelines (USSG) Manual and in USSG § 4A1.3, and sentencing

variances, which are non-Guidelines sentences based on the factors enumerated in 18

U.S.C. § 3553(a). In order to maintain this distinction and to facilitate meaningful

appellate review, we have directed district courts to follow a three-step sentencing

process. See United States v. Burns, Nos. 04-2901, 04-2933, 2007 WL 2409866, at

*3 (8th Cir. Aug. 27, 2007) (en banc) (citing Haack, 403 F.3d at 1002-03). First, the

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district court must calculate the appropriate advisory Guidelines range based on the

applicable offense level and the criminal history category. Id. Then, the district court

should consider whether any traditional Guidelines-based departures apply. Id. And

only after completing steps one and two should the district court then consider the

other § 3553(a) factors to decide whether to impose a Guidelines or non-Guidelines

sentence. Id.

On review, sentences within the advisory Guidelines range–sentences correctly

calculated by properly applying the Guidelines following steps one and two–are

presumptively reasonable. United States v. Lincoln, 413 F.3d 716, 717 (8th Cir.), cert.

denied, 546 U.S. 1081 (2005); see Rita v. United States, 127 S. Ct. 2456, 2462 (2007)

(holding that the "court[s] of appeals may apply a presumption of reasonableness to

a district court sentence that reflects a proper application of the Sentencing

Guidelines"); cf. Burns, 2007 WL 2409866, at *3 (recognizing that the "advisory

[G]uideline sentence," to which the presumption applies, is arrived at after the district

court considers a traditional Guidelines departure). This is not to say that nonGuidelines sentences are presumptively unreasonable; they are not. See Rita, 127 S.

Ct. at 2467. But "the farther the district court varies from the presumptively

reasonable guidelines range, the more compelling the justification based on the

§ 3553(a) factors must be." United States v. McMannus, 436 F.3d 871, 874 (8th Cir.

2006).

Here, the district court considered departing sua sponte under USSG

§ 4A1.3(a)(1), which permits an upward Guidelines departure "[i]f reliable

information indicates that the defendant's criminal history category substantially

underrepresents the seriousness of the defendant's criminal history or the likelihood

that the defendant will commit other crimes." But the district court chose not to depart

because, under the district court's analysis, "the criminal history is adequate at a

criminal history category [IV]." (Sent. Tr. at 16.) Notwithstanding its decision not

to depart upward under USSG § 4A1.3(a), the district court chose to sentence SolisAppellate Case: 06-3548 Page: 4 Date Filed: 09/13/2007 Entry ID: 3351200
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Because Solis-Bermudez does not separately contend that the extent of the

variance, as opposed to the district court's imposition of the variance itself, was

unreasonable, see United States v. Wadena, 470 F.3d 735, 737 (8th Cir. 2006), and

because nothing in the record indicates that the extent of the 14-month variance, given

Solis-Bermudez's history, is unreasonable, we do not address this issue further. 

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Bermudez 14 months above the advisory Guidelines range based on the other

§ 3553(a) factors. The district court reasoned that while Solis-Bermudez's

commission of serious crimes and two prior deportations were "reflected in the

criminal history and the total offense level," this prior conduct was not "adequately

reflected" by the advisory Guidelines range. (Id. at 17-18.) In varying upward, the

district court emphasized "the history of the defendant" and his "commi[ssion] [of] a

serious crime each time he[] [reentered] the country," concluding that Solis-Bermudez

is "a likely recidivist and is likely to commit additional crimes." (Id. at 17.)

Solis-Bermudez contends that the district court abused its discretion by

imposing a non-Guidelines sentence.3

 Specifically, Solis-Bermudez argues that the

district court acted inconsistently by declining to depart under USSG § 4A1.3(a) for

an underrepresented criminal history and then varying upward based on SolisBermudez's commission of serious crimes and his potential for recidivism. 

We recognize that we have reversed district court variances where the district

court's factual determinations supporting a variance are internally inconsistent with

the district court's advisory Guidelines findings. See, e.g., United States v. Portillo,

458 F.3d 828, 830 (8th Cir. 2006) (reversing the district court's variance as internally

inconsistent where the variance was based on the district court's concern over a

witness's credibility, although the district court had implicitly credited that witness's

testimony in calculating the advisory Guidelines range); United States v. Brown, 453

F.3d 1024, 1026 (8th Cir. 2006) (same). Similarly, we have cautioned district courts

that "substantial variances based upon factors already taken into account in a

defendant's guidelines sentencing range seriously undermine sentencing uniformity."

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United States v. Morales-Uribe, 470 F.3d 1282, 1286 (8th Cir. 2006) (internal marks

omitted); see also United States v. Myers, 439 F.3d 415, 418 (8th Cir. 2006)

("Inasmuch as a guidelines sentence reflects a defendant's criminal history, a wide

divergence from the guidelines sentence based solely on this single criterion would

conflict with the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities . . . ."). 

But our cases continue to recognize that " a guideline departure prohibition does

not preclude the district court from considering that factor when the issue is a variance

under Booker." United States v. Gatewood, 438 F.3d 894, 897 (8th Cir. 2006); see

also United States v. Beal, 463 F.3d 834, 837 (8th Cir. 2006) ("While we do not

suggest that section 4A1.3(b)(3)(A) strictly limits the scope of variances post-Booker,

it remains relevant to consider the Guidelines and the commentary in our assessment

of reasonableness . . . ."), petition for cert. filed, _ U.S.L.W. _ (U.S. Dec. 21, 2006)

(No. 06-8498). Because the standards justifying departures under the advisory

Guidelines are narrower than the factors enumerated in § 3553(a), "[t]here may well

be cases that would not justify a departure under the Guidelines but which are

appropriate for a variance." United States v. Robinson, 454 F.3d 839, 842 (8th Cir.

2006); see United States v. Spigner, 416 F.3d 708, 712 n.1 (8th Cir. 2005) (observing

that the post-Booker advisory sentencing scheme permits "broader considerations of

sentencing implications" than the considerations provided under the advisory

Guidelines); United States v. Ryder, 414 F.3d 908, 919-20 (8th Cir. 2005) (remanding

for resentencing where the district court, pre-Booker, considered itself constrained by

the Guidelines departure standards for age and infirmity, but post-Booker, the

consideration of age and infirmity not satisfying the advisory Guidelines departure

standards was still proper under the broader sentencing factors of § 3553(a)).

 By arguing that the district court's upward variance on the basis of his criminal

history and prior deportations was improper because the district court declined to

depart under USSG § 4A1.3(a), Solis-Bermudez assumes that the standards identified

in USSG § 4A1.3(a) and § 3553(a)(1) and (a)(2)(C) are the same. In his brief, SolisAppellate Case: 06-3548 Page: 6 Date Filed: 09/13/2007 Entry ID: 3351200
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 We note that recently, in Burns, this circuit observed that "[b]ecause postBooker variances must be reasonable with regard to § 3553(a), while substantialassistance reductions are considered under the rubric of the sentencing guidelines or

of § 3553(e) . . . the general analytical approaches and associated standards may

diverge." 2007 WL 2409866, at *4 n.2 (citation omitted). However, because Burns

was "entirely a substantial assistance departure case," there, it was not necessary to

consider whether the standards should diverge. Id.

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Bermudez urges us to construe the two standards in the same way. But these

standards are not the same.4

 Whereas § 3553(a)(1) and (a)(2)(C) broadly permit the

district court to consider "the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history

and characteristics of the defendant" and "the need for the sentence imposed . . . to

protect the public from further crimes of the defendant," USSG § 4A1.3(a)(1) more

narrowly permits an upward departure if the defendant's criminal history category

under the advisory Guidelines "substantially under-represents the seriousness of the

defendant's criminal history or the likelihood that the defendant will commit other

crimes." (Emphasis added.) Moreover, unlike § 3553(a)(1) and (a)(2)(C), the

Guidelines policy statement lists specific circumstances justifying an upward

departure for substantial underrepresentation of criminal history, including: foreign

or tribal sentences not counted in the criminal history score; prior sentences

substantially greater than one year based on independent crimes; prior similar

misconduct established by a civil adjudication; whether the defendant was awaiting

trial or sentencing at the time of the current offense; and prior similar criminal conduct

not resulting in a criminal conviction. USSG § 4A1.3(a)(2).

Solis-Bermudez's second illegal entry into the country, the entry following his

1998 deportation for which he was never charged or convicted, may constitute "[p]rior

similar adult criminal conduct not resulting in a criminal conviction," USSG

§ 4A1.3(a)(2)(E), which could support an upward departure under the Guidelines.

However, we see no inconsistency between the district court's discretionary

determination that the failure to include this conduct in the criminal history scoring

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did not "substantially under-represent[]" the seriousness of Solis-Bermudez's criminal

history, USSG § 4A1.3(a)(1), and its decision to impose an upward variance based on

the broader § 3553(a) considerations. In deciding to impose an upward variance, the

district court did not simply focus on Solis-Bermudez's second illegal entry and the

fact that Solis-Bermudez's criminal-history score did not account for that specific

conduct. Rather, in imposing a variance based on the nature and circumstances of

Solis-Bermudez's offense and his history and characteristics, the district court focused

more broadly on the serious character of Solis-Bermudez's accounted-for and

unaccounted-for criminal conduct, Solis-Bermudez's pattern of illegal entries into the

United States, and the timing between Solis-Bermudez's last illegal entry and his

commission of criminal conduct. In the same analysis, the district court also

considered Solis-Bermudez's arguments in favor of mitigating his sentence, and, as

a result, reduced the extent of the upward variance recommended by the Probation

Office by 24 months. Thus, because the district court's decision to impose an upward

variance was not based on the exact considerations that the district court determined

not to be present under USSG § 4A1.3(a)(1), we find no internal inconsistency in the

district court's sentencing analysis and decision.

Here, Solis-Bermudez's history of deportation and illegal reentry, together with

his serious criminal record, justified the district court's upward variance. According

to the undisputed PSR, Solis-Bermudez began living illegally in the United States in

1989, and he was deported after committing a felony drug offense in 1998. He then

reentered illegally and was deported in July of 2003, and he entered illegally for the

third time just three months later. Yet only one of Solis-Bermudez's three illegal

entries was represented in the district court's advisory Guidelines calculation.

Moreover, little more than a year after his third illegal entrance into the country, SolisBermudez was arrested for sexually assaulting his two young nieces. SolisBermudez's repeated illegal reentry into the United States is strong evidence of his

propensity to recidivate. And his sexual assault of his nieces shortly after illegal

reentry heightens the significance of this propensity. All of these facts were properly

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considered under § 3553(a), and, taken together, they support the district court's

discretionary decision to impose a 14-month variance.

III.

We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by varying

upward and imposing a 60-month non-Guidelines sentence. Solis-Bermudez's

sentence is affirmed. 

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