Court Opinion

ID: 9556383
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-17 00:00:30.255071+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:10.567388
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-60130         Document: 00516860170             Page: 1      Date Filed: 08/16/2023

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

                                       No. 23-60130                                    FILED
                                     Summary Calendar                            August 16, 2023
                                     ____________                                 Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                       Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Marco Bisa Hawkins Moran,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Southern District of Mississippi
                                USDC No. 2:18-CR-34-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Higginbotham, Stewart, and Elrod, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Marco Bisa Hawkins Moran, federal prisoner # 21033-043, appeals the
   denial of his motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C.
   § 3582(c)(1)(A) urging error in the weighing of the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)
   factors. Specifically, he contends that he has accepted responsibility and has
   a low risk of recidivism because of his education level. Moran also argues that

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-60130      Document: 00516860170          Page: 2    Date Filed: 08/16/2023

                                    No. 23-60130

   the district court abused its discretion by finding that he did not establish
   extraordinary and compelling reasons warranting compassionate release
   under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i).
          We review the denial of a motion for compassionate release for an
   abuse of discretion. See United States v. Chambliss, 948 F.3d 691, 693 (5th Cir.
   2020). The district court denied Moran’s motion on the ground that he was
   not entitled to compassionate release because the § 3553(a) factors did not
   weigh in his favor. Specifically, the district court found that he had
   committed a serious offense and that releasing him early would create serious
   sentencing disparities with other similarly situated defendants, so releasing
   him was not in the interests of justice and would minimize the seriousness of
   his offense. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Moran’s disagreement with the district
   court’s weighing of the sentencing factors is not sufficient to demonstrate an
   abuse of discretion, and he provides no exculpatory evidence or case law
   establishing a legal error or on an erroneous assessment of the facts. See
   Chambliss, 948 F.3d at 694. The judgment of the district court is
   AFFIRMED.

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