IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 11-51186

Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

SAUL CORONA-PORRAS,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Texas

USDC No. 3:11-CR-1847-1

Before WIENER, ELROD, and GRAVES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Saul Corona-Porras (Corona) appeals the 27-month sentence imposed

following his guilty plea conviction for being found illegally in the United States

following removal. He contends that the within-guidelines sentence was greater

than necessary to satisfy the sentencing goals set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)

and was therefore substantively unreasonable. Corona specifically argues that

U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 is not empirically based and that the guidelines sentence does

not warrant a presumption of reasonableness. He maintains that his offense

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

F I L E D

August 1, 2012

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: 11-51186 Document: 00511941387 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/01/2012
No. 11-51186

constitutes a mere international trespass and that the district court failed to

take into account his personal history and characteristics, including his benign

motive for reentering the United States, his lack of a violent criminal history,

and his willingness to stay out of the United States in the future.

This court reviews the sentence for reasonableness, under an abuse-ofdiscretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). Where, as in

this case, the district court imposes a sentence within a properly calculated

guidelines range, the sentence is entitled to a rebuttable presumption of

reasonableness. United States v. Newson, 515 F.3d 374, 379 (5th Cir. 2008).

As Corona concedes, the contention that a defendant is entitled to relief

because § 2L1.2 is not supported by empirical data has been rejected by this

court. United States v. Duarte, 569 F.3d 528, 530 (5th Cir. 2009). This court has

also determined that the”international trespass” argument raised by Corona

does not justify disturbing an otherwise presumptively reasonable sentence. 

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

The district court made an individualized sentencing decision based on the

factors of the case in light of the factors set out in § 3553(a). See Gall, 552 U.S.

at 49-50. In particular, the district court took into account Corona’s numerous

returns to the United States and his inability to prove that his circumstances

had changed to a degree that would deter future illegal entries. The district

court’s conclusion that a within-guidelines sentence is entitled to deference, and

we presume that it is reasonable. See id. at 51-52; United States v. Cooks, 589

F.3d 173, 186 (5th Cir. 2009); Newson, 515 F.3d at 379. We see no reason to

disturb the district court’s discretionary decision to impose a sentence within the

guidelines range. Consequently, the judgment of the district court is

AFFIRMED.

2

Case: 11-51186 Document: 00511941387 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/01/2012