Court Opinion

ID: 9947000
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-01 21:00:55.421216+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:44.893331
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 22-4382      Doc: 20         Filed: 02/29/2024    Pg: 1 of 4

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 22-4382

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                            Plaintiff - Appellee,

                     v.

        RAFAEL MARROQUIN, a/k/a Marco Martinez, a/k/a Marco Vinicio Martinez, a/k/a
        Marco Vinicio Carrillo Martinez, a/k/a Marco Vinici Carrillo Martinez, a/k/a Marcos
        Carrillo-Martinez, a/k/a Marcos V. Martinez, a/k/a Arturo Alva Sanchez, a/k/a Arturo
        Alva, a/k/a Corrio Martinez, a/k/a Orellano Rodriguez, a/k/a Roberto Rodriguez,

                            Defendant - Appellant.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at
        Greensboro. Loretta C. Biggs, District Judge. (1:21-cr-00074-LCB-1)

        Submitted: February 13, 2024                                 Decided: February 29, 2024

        Before WILKINSON and WYNN, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

        Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        ON BRIEF: Louis C. Allen, Federal Public Defender, Mireille P. Clough, Assistant
        Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Winston-
        Salem, North Carolina, for Appellant. Sandra J. Hairston, United States Attorney,
        Margaret M. Reece, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED
        STATES ATTORNEY, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
USCA4 Appeal: 22-4382      Doc: 20         Filed: 02/29/2024      Pg: 2 of 4

        PER CURIAM:

               Rafael Marroquin pled guilty, without a written plea agreement, to unauthorized

        reentry of a removed alien, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). The district court sentenced

        Marroquin to 24 months’ imprisonment, within the advisory Sentencing Guidelines range,

        and imposed the sentence to run consecutively to Marroquin’s undischarged North

        Carolina state sentence. Marroquin argues on appeal that the district court (1) procedurally

        erred by refusing to allow him to introduce evidence at the sentencing hearing regarding

        the facts underlying the prior state conviction that was used to enhance his base offense

        level, and (2) abused its discretion by imposing his sentence to run consecutively to his

        undischarged state sentence, contending that a concurrent sentence was warranted because

        his prior state conviction had already been considered in the calculation of his advisory

        Sentencing Guidelines range. We affirm.

               “We review all sentences—whether inside, just outside, or significantly outside the

        Guidelines range—under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.” United States v.

        McDonald, 28 F.4th 553, 561 (4th Cir. 2022) (internal quotation marks omitted). We first

        consider “whether the district court committed any procedural error, such as improperly

        calculating the Guidelines range, failing to consider the [18 U.S.C.] § 3553(a) factors, or

        failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence.” United States v. Nance, 957 F.3d 204,

        212 (4th Cir. 2020). The court’s sentencing explanation “need not be exhaustive, or

        robotically tick through the § 3553(a) factors”; rather, the court’s explanation “must be

        sufficient to satisfy the appellate court that the district court has considered the parties’

                                                     2
USCA4 Appeal: 22-4382      Doc: 20         Filed: 02/29/2024     Pg: 3 of 4

        arguments and has a reasoned basis for exercising its own legal decisionmaking authority.”

        United States v. Friend, 2 F.4th 369, 379 (4th Cir. 2021) (cleaned up).

               If we find no significant procedural error, we then consider the substantive

        reasonableness of the sentence imposed. United States v. Arbaugh, 951 F.3d 167, 172

        (4th Cir. 2020). “A sentence that is within or below a properly calculated Guidelines range

        is presumptively [substantively] reasonable.” United States v. Bennett, 986 F.3d 389, 401

        (4th Cir. 2021) (internal quotation marks omitted). “On appeal, such a presumption can

        only be rebutted by showing that the sentence is unreasonable when measured against

        the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.” Id. (cleaned up). “When considering the substantive

        reasonableness of a prison term, we examine the totality of the circumstances to see

        whether the sentencing court abused its discretion in concluding that the sentence it chose

        satisfied the standards set forth in § 3553(a).” Arbaugh, 951 F.3d at 176 (cleaned up).

               Under 18 U.S.C. § 3584(a), a district court has the discretion to impose a federal

        sentence to run concurrently with or consecutively to a defendant’s undischarged state

        sentence. “The court, in determining whether the terms imposed are to be ordered to run

        concurrently or consecutively, shall consider, as to each offense for which a term of

        imprisonment is being imposed, the factors set forth in section 3553(a).” 18 U.S.C.

        § 3584(b); see Setser v. United States, 566 U.S. 231, 236 (2012).

               Upon review of the record, we determine that Marroquin’s sentence is both

        procedurally and substantively reasonable. The district court did not procedurally err by

        refusing to consider the facts underlying Marroquin’s prior state conviction, which was

        used to support his 10-level sentencing enhancement. The court reasonably declined to

                                                    3
USCA4 Appeal: 22-4382      Doc: 20          Filed: 02/29/2024     Pg: 4 of 4

        reassess who was at fault in the traffic accident resulting in Marroguin’s state conviction

        for felony death by motor vehicle, finding that those details already had been litigated in

        state court and Marroquin had been convicted of the state offense. We also discern no

        abuse of discretion in the district court’s decision to impose Marroquin’s federal sentence

        to run consecutively to his undischarged state sentence. The court heard arguments from

        both parties regarding their positions on sentencing and adequately explained the reasons

        for its sentencing decision, weighing heavily Marroquin’s previous removals from this

        country and illegal reentries, as well as his criminal history, and concluding that a 24-month

        consecutive sentence was not greater than necessary to meet the objectives of sentencing.

        We therefore conclude that Marroquin has failed to rebut the presumption that his sentence

        is substantively reasonable.

               Accordingly, we affirm the criminal judgment. We dispense with oral argument

        because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this

        court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                                         AFFIRMED

                                                      4