Court Opinion

ID: 9838331
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-06 00:00:28.527444+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:51.315999
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-11225         Document: 00516884021             Page: 1      Date Filed: 09/05/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                                United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                         Fifth Circuit
                                       No. 22-11225
                                     Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                     ____________                              September 5, 2023
                                                                                  Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                           Clerk

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Faustino Garcia-Sanchez,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Northern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 3:21-CR-614-1
                      ______________________________

   Before King, Haynes, and Graves, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Faustino Garcia-Sanchez pleaded guilty to illegal reentry into the
   United States after removal, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), and the
   district court sentenced him to 60 months of imprisonment under
   § 1326(b)(2). Garcia-Sanchez contends that his above-guidelines sentence
   was substantively unreasonable. He also argues that his sentence violates his

         _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-11225      Document: 00516884021           Page: 2     Date Filed: 09/05/2023

                                     No. 22-11225

   right to due process because it exceeds the statutory maximum for the offense
   charged in the indictment. However, he correctly concedes that his due
   process argument is foreclosed based on the Supreme Court’s decision in
   Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), and explains that he
   merely seeks to preserve the issue for further review. See United States v.
   Pervis, 937 F.3d 546, 553-54 (5th Cir. 2019).
          We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence for an abuse
   of discretion. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). Before imposing
   an above-guidelines sentence, the district court considered the nature and
   circumstances of the offense, Garcia-Sanchez’s history and characteristics,
   and the need for deterrence. While Garcia-Sanchez argues that the district
   court gave too much weight to his immigration history, “the sentencing court
   is free to conclude that the applicable Guidelines range gives too much or too
   little weight to one or more factors, either as applied in a particular case or as
   a matter of policy.” United States v. Williams, 517 F.3d 801, 809 (5th Cir.
   2008). Moreover, despite his assertions to the contrary, the record reflects
   that the district court considered the mitigating factors behind Garcia-
   Sanchez’s most recent illegal reentries and simply found that those factors
   were outweighed by Garcia-Sanchez’s history and the need for specific
   deterrence. Because the sentencing proceedings as a whole support the
   district court’s determination to impose an above-guidelines sentence,
   Garcia-Sanchez has failed to demonstrate that his sentence is substantively
   unreasonable. See Gall, 552 U.S. at 51; United States v. Nguyen, 854 F.3d 276,
   283 (5th Cir. 2017).
          AFFIRMED.

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