Court Opinion

ID: 9392624
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-05-05 18:00:40.898849+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:47.146841
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-10649        Document: 00516739611             Page: 1      Date Filed: 05/05/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit                                   United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                   Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________                                FILED
                                                                              May 5, 2023
                                      No. 22-10649
                                     ____________                           Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                 Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   German Martinez,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Northern District of Texas
                              USDC No. 3:21-CR-118-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Higginbotham, Southwick, and Willett, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         German Martinez pleaded guilty to illegal reentry into the United
   States following a prior removal. He was sentenced at the bottom of the
   applicable guidelines range to 24 months of imprisonment to be followed by
   three years of supervised release. He now appeals, arguing that the district
   court erred in refusing his request to vary below the guidelines range based

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-10649      Document: 00516739611          Page: 2    Date Filed: 05/05/2023

                                    No. 22-10649

   on his motivation for committing the instant offense and his difficult family
   circumstances.
          We review a challenge to the substantive reasonableness of a sentence
   for an abuse of discretion. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007).
   Martinez’s within-guidelines sentence is entitled to a presumption of
   reasonableness. See United States v. Rashad, 687 F.3d 637, 644 (5th Cir.
   2012). To rebut that presumption, Martinez must show “that the sentence
   does not account for a factor that should receive significant weight, it gives
   significant weight to an irrelevant or improper factor, or it represents a clear
   error of judgment in balancing sentencing factors.” United States v. Cooks,
   589 F.3d 173, 186 (5th Cir. 2009). Martinez’s general disagreement with the
   propriety of his sentence and the district court’s weighing of the 18 U.S.C.
   § 3553(a) factors is insufficient to establish that the district court erred in
   balancing them. See Gall, 552 U.S. at 51; United States v. Ruiz, 621 F.3d 390,
   398 (5th Cir. 2010); Cooks, 589 F.3d at 186. He has not shown that the district
   court abused its discretion by sentencing him within the applicable guidelines
   range to 24 months in prison. See Gall, 552 U.S. at 51. Consequently, the
   judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

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