Court Opinion

ID: 9959235
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-11 14:00:48.674589+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:17:38.599268
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 23-12574    Document: 34-1      Date Filed: 04/11/2024   Page: 1 of 6

                                                   [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                    In the
                United States Court of Appeals
                        For the Eleventh Circuit

                          ____________________

                                No. 23-12574
                           Non-Argument Calendar
                          ____________________

       UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                       Plaintiﬀ-Appellee,
       versus
       RUBIO RUBEN SALES,
       a.k.a. Rubio Mendez-Sales,

                                                   Defendant-Appellant.

                          ____________________

                 Appeal from the United States District Court
                     for the Southern District of Florida
                   D.C. Docket No. 9:22-cr-80204-KAM-1
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       2                      Opinion of the Court                 23-12574

                            ____________________

       Before WILSON, LUCK, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
       PER CURIAM:
               Rubio Ruben Sales appeals his 70-month federal sentence for
       illegal reentry after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a)
       and (b)(1). Sales argues that the district court imposed a substan-
       tively unreasonable sentence when it chose to consecutively run 60
       months of his federal sentence after his separate state offense. After
       careful review, we affirm.
                                      I.
              Sales is a native and citizen of Guatemala. In 2008, he was
       convicted of aggravated battery by intentionally stabbing someone
       in the chest and right arm. Then, in 2011, he was convicted of fel-
       ony death by vehicle, and Sales was deported back to Guatemala
       the following year. Sometime thereafter he returned to the United
       States. In 2018, Sales was convicted of felony sexual battery against
       a 15-year-old girl and sentenced in Florida state court to 35.5 years’
       imprisonment. He was subsequently charged and pleaded guilty
       in federal court to illegal reentry after deportation.
              Sales’s Presentence Investigation Report (PSI) applied a base
       offense level of eight under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(a). Two enhance-
       ments were applied: (1) an eight-level enhancement for the felony
       death by vehicle offense that occurred before his first removal, per
       U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(2)(B); and (2) a ten-level enhancement for his
       felony sexual battery offense that occurred after his first removal,
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       23-12574                   Opinion of the Court                                3

       per U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(3)(A). After a three-level reduction for
       timely acceptance of responsibility per U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a) and (b),
       his total offense level was 23. Based upon his three prior convic-
       tions, the PSI calculated eight criminal history points and a criminal
       history category of IV. The final Guidelines range was 70 to 87
       months’ imprisonment, with a statutory maximum term of 10
       years under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(1).
               At sentencing, Sales urged the court to run a greater portion
       of his sentence concurrently to his undischarged state sentence for
       felony sexual battery. The district court rejected Sales’s arguments
       and agreed with the government’s recommendation that a signifi-
       cant portion of the sentence run consecutively. The district court
       emphasized Sales’s history of successively dangerous crimes and
       the need to protect the public. As a result, the court sentenced him
       to 70 months’ imprisonment for illegal reentry after deportation,
       with 60 months to run consecutively, and 10 months concurrently,
       to his undischarged state sentence for felony sexual battery. Sales
       timely appealed.
                                           II.
             Sales argues that the district court imposed a substantively
       unreasonable sentence1 when it chose to run 60 months of his

       1 Sales did not object to the calculation of his Guidelines range in his PSI, and

       the district court adopted its findings in full. Accordingly, we adopt the same
       Guidelines range to analyze the substantive reasonableness of his sentence.
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       4                      Opinion of the Court                  23-12574

       federal illegal reentry sentence consecutively to his separate state
       offense.
              We review a sentence’s substantive reasonableness “under a
       deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.” Gall v. United States, 552
       U.S. 38, 41 (2007). We similarly review for abuse of discretion the
       decision to run a federal sentence consecutively to a state-imposed
       sentence. United States v. Covington, 565 F.3d 1336, 1346 (11th Cir.
       2009). “The party challenging a sentence has the burden of show-
       ing that the sentence is unreasonable in light of the entire record,
       the § 3553(a) factors, and the substantial deference afforded sen-
       tencing courts.” United States v. Rosales-Bruno, 789 F.3d 1249, 1256
       (11th Cir. 2015).
               Under § 3553(a), a sentencing court must impose a sentence
       that is “sufficient, but not greater than necessary” to reflect the se-
       riousness of the offense, promote respect for the law, provide just
       punishment, afford adequate deterrence, and protect the public
       from further crimes of the defendant. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2). The
       court also must consider, among other factors, the nature and cir-
       cumstances of the offense, the history and characteristics of the de-
       fendant, the applicable Guidelines range, and any pertinent policy
       statement issued by the Sentencing Commission. See id.
       § 3553(a)(1), (3)–(5).
             The weight given to each § 3553(a) factor “is committed to
       the sound discretion of the district court,” wherein “a district court
       may attach great weight to one § 3553(a) factor over others.”
       United States v. Butler, 39 F.4th 1349, 1355 (11th Cir. 2022). We
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       23-12574               Opinion of the Court                        5

       ordinarily expect a sentence within the Guidelines range to be rea-
       sonable, and “[a] sentence imposed well below the statutory maxi-
       mum penalty is an indicator of a reasonable sentence.” United
       States v. Stanley, 739 F.3d 633, 656 (11th Cir. 2014).
               When a federal sentence is imposed on a defendant subject
       to an undischarged term of state imprisonment, “the terms may
       run concurrently or consecutively.” 18 U.S.C. § 3584(a). The dis-
       trict court must consider the same § 3553(a) factors in making such
       determinations. Id. § 3584(b). We recognize that district judges
       “have long been understood to have discretion to select whether
       the sentences they impose will run concurrently or consecutively
       with respect to other sentences . . . that have been imposed in other
       proceedings, including state proceedings.” Setser v. United States,
       566 U.S. 231, 236 (2012). Once the § 3553(a) factors are considered,
       “the only limitation on running sentences consecutively is that the
       resulting total sentence must be reasonable.” Covington, 565 F.3d
       at 1347.
             On appeal, Sales argues that the district court improperly
       weighed the § 3553(a) factors. He points to the court’s emphasis
       upon Sales’s criminal history and the need to protect the public.
       Due to his 35.5-year state imprisonment, Sales argues that the pur-
       poses of § 3553(a) are already met and his federal sentence should
       run concurrently.
              Based upon this record, the district court’s sentence is sub-
       stantively reasonable. In arriving at the sentence, the court stated
       that it considered all of the § 3553(a) factors, with an emphasis
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       6                       Opinion of the Court                  23-12574

       upon Sales’s history and characteristics and the need to protect the
       public from further crimes. Not only was this weight within the
       district court’s sound discretion, Butler, 39 F.4th at 1355, but it was
       warranted by the record. Sales’s history includes several violent
       crimes both before and after his deportation, including stabbing an
       individual in the chest, committing felony death by vehicle, and
       sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. Further, 70 months’ impris-
       onment falls at the bottom of the applicable Guidelines range and
       well below the statutory maximum sentence, both of which serve
       as indicators of a reasonable sentence. Stanley, 739 F.3d at 656.
       Based upon this significant history of violence against and disregard
       for others, the district court acted well within its discretion to order
       his illegal reentry sentence run 10 months concurrently, and 60
       months consecutively, to his present state sentence. Accordingly,
       we affirm.
              AFFIRMED.