Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-09-50949/USCOURTS-ca5-09-50949-1/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Erasmo Contreras-Aguinaga
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

REVISED August 23, 2010

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 09-50949

Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

ERASMO CONTRERAS-AGUINAGA,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Texas

USDC No. 2:09-CR-297-1

Before KING, HIGGINBOTHAM, and ELROD, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

*

Erasmo Contreras-Aguinaga appeals the 46-month sentence imposed after

his guilty plea conviction for illegal reentry following deportation in violation of

8 U.S.C. § 1326. He contends that the sentence was greater than necessary to

satisfy the sentencing goals set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and was therefore

substantively unreasonable. Contreras-Aguinaga argues that his illegal reentry

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

F I L E D

August 20, 2010

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

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.

 Case: 09-50949 Document: 00511211868 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/23/2010
No. 09-50949

offense was not a crime of violence and was “at bottom, an international

trespass.” Contreras-Aguinaga also maintains that his sentence fails to reflect

his personal history and characteristics, including his motive for reentering the

United States.

This court reviews the “substantive reasonableness of the sentence

imposed under an abuse-of-discretion standard.” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S.

38, 51 (2007). Contreras-Aguinaga’s 46-month sentence, within the guidelines

range, is presumed reasonable on appeal. See United States v. Duarte, 569 F.3d

528, 530 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 130 S. Ct. 378 (2009); United States v.

Mondragon-Santiago, 564 F.3d 357, 366-67 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 130 S. Ct. 192

(2009).

The district court considered Contreras-Aguinaga’s request for a

downward variance, and it ultimately determined that a sentence at the top of

the guidelines range was appropriate based on the circumstances of the case and

the § 3553(a) factors. Contreras-Aguinaga essentially seeks to have his sentence

vacated based on a reweighing of the § 3553(a) factors by this court. However,

the fact that we “might reasonably have concluded that a different sentence was

appropriate is insufficient to justify reversal of the district court.” Gall, 552 U.S.

at 51. We have also rejected Contreras-Aguinaga’s “international trespass”

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

The district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the 46-month

within-guidelines sentence. See id. We affirm.

AFFIRMED.

2

 Case: 09-50949 Document: 00511211868 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/23/2010