Court Opinion

ID: 9400718
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-09 00:00:39.345519+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:15.142869
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-40824         Document: 00516779427             Page: 1      Date Filed: 06/08/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit                                        United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                         Fifth Circuit

                                      ____________                                      FILED
                                                                                      June 8, 2023
                                       No. 22-40824                               Lyle W. Cayce
                                     Summary Calendar                                  Clerk
                                     ____________

   United States of America,

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Jesus Valdez,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Southern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 2:16-CR-800-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Jones, Smith, and Southwick, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Jesus Valdez was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to
   distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine and was sentenced to
   262 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release. He appeals
   the denial of his 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) motion for compassionate release.
         Valdez maintains that (1) his medical records showed an extraordinary

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-40824      Document: 00516779427          Page: 2    Date Filed: 06/08/2023

                                    No. 22-40824

   and compelling reason for compassionate release; (2) even if he were to file a
   civil-rights lawsuit alleging that he was not receiving adequate medical care
   in prison, that would not resolve his current situation; (3) the district court
   abused its power by sending a United States Marshal to his mother’s house
   several times while it considered his compassionate-release motion; and
   (4) the sentencing factors should be considered specifically in the context of
   a compassionate-release motion.
          We review the denial of compassionate release for abuse of discretion.
   United States v. Chambliss, 948 F.3d 691, 693 (5th Cir. 2020). A district court
   may modify a sentence, after considering the applicable 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)
   factors, if “extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction”
   and “such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements.”
   § 3582(c)(1)(A). Although not dispositive, the commentary to U.S.S.G.
   § 1B1.13 “informs our analysis as to what reasons may be sufficiently ‘extra-
   ordinary and compelling’ to merit compassionate release.” United States v.
   Thompson, 984 F.3d 431, 433 (5th Cir. 2021).
          The district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that Val-
   dez’s health conditions were not “extraordinary and compelling reasons” to
   reduce his sentence under § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). See Chambliss, 948 F.3d
   at 693–94. Nor did the court abuse its discretion in determining that the rel-
   evant § 3553(a) factors militated against a reduction based on Valdez’s crim-
   inal history and the danger he posed to the public. See id. at 693.
          AFFIRMED.

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