Court Opinion

ID: 9881927
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-04 18:00:34.43025+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:26.808674
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-10069       Document: 00516919321             Page: 1      Date Filed: 10/04/2023

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

                                     No. 23-10069                                   FILED
                                   Summary Calendar                           October 4, 2023
                                   ____________                                Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                    Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                    Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                           versus

   Jose Eugenio Pavon-Rivera,

                                             Defendant—Appellant.
                    ______________________________

                    Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Northern District of Texas
                              USDC No. 5:22-CR-59-1
                    ______________________________

   Before Jones, Southwick, and Ho, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Jose Eugenio Pavon-Rivera appeals his 48-month sentence for illegal
   reentry. Although the advisory guidelines range was 8 to 14 months of
   imprisonment, the district court applied an upward variance to 48 months of

           _____________________
          *
              Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 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   should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set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 Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 23-10069        Document: 00516919321          Page: 2     Date Filed: 10/04/2023

                                      No. 23-10069

   imprisonment. Pavon-Rivera challenges the substantive reasonableness of
   his sentence.
          Pavon-Rivera     contends     that   his    sentence    is   substantively
   unreasonable because it demonstrates that the district court clearly erred in
   its balancing of the sentencing factors considering Pavon-Rivera’s history
   and characteristics. Because Pavon-Rivera properly preserved his challenge
   to the reasonableness of his sentence, we review for an abuse of discretion.
   See United States v. Burney, 992 F.3d 398, 399-400 (5th Cir. 2021). In
   imposing a non-guidelines sentence, a district court may consider factors
   already taken into account by the Sentencing Guidelines, including a
   defendant’s criminal history. United States v. Brantley, 537 F.3d 347, 350 (5th
   Cir. 2008). Our review of the record does not reveal that the district court
   gave significant weight to an irrelevant or improper factor or otherwise
   abused its discretion by failing to account for a factor that should have
   received significant weight or committing a clear error of judgment in
   balancing the § 3553(a) factors. See Burney, 992 F.3d at 400. Moreover, as
   to the extent of the variance, this court has upheld proportionately similar
   upward variances. See, e.g., United States v. Jones, 444 F.3d 430, 433, 441-43
   (5th Cir. 2006).
          Pavon-Rivera also argues that 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b) is unconstitutional
   because it permits a sentence above the otherwise applicable statutory
   maximum based on facts that were not alleged in the indictment or found by
   a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. As Pavon-Rivera concedes, his argument
   is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998). See
   United States v. Pervis, 937 F.3d 546, 553-54 (5th Cir. 2019).
          Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

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