Court Opinion

ID: 9384071
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-31 18:00:28.219636+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:50.285058
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-40672        Document: 00516696303             Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/31/2023

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

                                      No. 22-40672
                                                                                       FILED
                                                                                 March 31, 2023
                                    Summary Calendar
                                    ____________                                     Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                          Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Flavio Tamez,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Southern District of Texas
                              USDC No. 2:12-CR-418-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Wiener, Elrod, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         Defendant-Appellant Flavio Tamez, federal prisoner # 14812-379,
   appeals the denial of his motion for compassionate release, filed pursuant to
   18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). Tamez focuses a majority of his brief on
   challenging the district court’s holding that COVID-19, family and
   community circumstances, rehabilitative efforts, and changing attitudes

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-40672     Document: 00516696303           Page: 2   Date Filed: 03/31/2023

                                    No. 22-40672

   toward marijuana did not amount to extraordinary and compelling reasons
   warranting early release. Employing liberal construction, Tamez also asserts
   that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion based on a
   balancing of the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors, given that court’s
   “misstatement[s]” that he was involved in a conspiracy between 2003 and
   2012, as well as that court’s failure to consider good-time credits when
   concluding that he had served less than half of his 262-month sentence.
          We review the district court’s denial of a compassionate release
   motion for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Chambliss, 948 F.3d
   691, 693 (5th Cir. 2020). Tamez’s assertions are incorrect because Tamez
   pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment charging him with a conspiracy
   that existed between 2003 and 2012. Also, the district court correctly used
   the actual sentence imposed when determining that Tamez had served 123
   months (47%) of his 262-month sentence. See United States v. Rodriguez, 27
   F.4th 1097, 1100 (5th Cir. 2022). The district court was also aware of
   Tamez’s good-time credits and explicitly noted them. Tamez may disagree
   with the way that the district court balanced the § 3553(a) factors, but his
   disagreement does not provide sufficient grounds for reversal. See Chambliss,
   948 F.3d at 694. Those are the reasons that we do not consider Tamez’s
   reasons for challenging the district court’s conclusion that he failed to show
   extraordinary and compelling reasons warranting relief. See Ward v. United
   States, 11 F.4th 354, 360–62 (5th Cir. 2021).
          The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

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