Court Opinion

ID: 9951772
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-19 00:01:59.175262+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:42:24.187005
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-50333            Document: 58-1         Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/18/2024

            United States Court of Appeals
                 for the Fifth Circuit
                                   _____________
                                                                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                       Fifth Circuit
                                    No. 23-50333
                                consolidated with                                    FILED
                                    No. 23-50341                               March 18, 2024
                                  _____________                                 Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                     Clerk
United States of America,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                           versus

Juan Jesus Vargas,

                                             Defendant—Appellant.
                    ______________________________

                    Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Western District of Texas
                            USDC Nos. 7:22-CR-256-1,
                                  7:16-CR-203-1
                    ______________________________

Before King, Haynes, and Graves, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam: *
        Juan Jesus Vargas pleaded guilty of violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) by
being a felon in possession of ammunition, 1 and the district court sentenced

        _____________________
        *
            This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
        1
           His previous felony convictions include aggravated assault via shooting someone
to kill them.
Case: 23-50333        Document: 58-1       Page: 2     Date Filed: 03/18/2024

                                  No. 23-50333
                                c/w No. 23-50341

him to a within-guidelines 115-month term of imprisonment and to a three-
year period of supervised release. Vargas’s supervised release in case
number 7:16-CR-203-1 was revoked, and Vargas was sentenced to a
consecutive 24-month term of imprisonment. Timely notices of appeal were
filed, and the two appeals have been consolidated.
       Vargas contends that the district court failed to provide an adequate
explanation of its application of the statutory sentencing factors. Vargas’s
request for a sentence in the middle of the range did not preserve this
procedural error, and our review is for plain error. See United States v. Coto-
Mendoza, 986 F.3d 583, 585-86 (5th Cir. 2021). Here, the district court
provided an adequate explanation. There was no error, plain or otherwise,
with respect to the adequacy of the district court’s reasons. See id. at 586-87;
see also Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338, 356-57 (2007).
       Vargas also asserts that the sentences were substantively
unreasonable. Vargas has not rebutted the presumption of reasonableness
that is accorded to within-Guidelines sentences. See United States v. Cooks,
589 F.3d 173, 186 (5th Cir. 2009).
       For the first time on appeal, Vargas also asserts that § 922(g) violates
the Commerce Clause and the Second Amendment. He invokes United
States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995), and New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn.,
Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022). Our review is for plain error. See Puckett
v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 135 (2009).
       Vargas’s Commerce Clause challenge is foreclosed. See United States
v. Jones, 88 F.4th 571, 573-74 (5th Cir. 2023). Any Second Amendment
violation is not clear or obvious. See id. Although Vargas attempts to
distinguish Jones because his offense involves ammunition, he has not
pointed to any binding authority holding that ammunition and firearms

                                       2
Case: 23-50333        Document: 58-1        Page: 3   Date Filed: 03/18/2024

                                   No. 23-50333
                                 c/w No. 23-50341

should be treated differently for Second Amendment purposes. He has failed
to show reversible plain error. See Jones, 84 F.4th at 574.
         However, the criminal judgment states incorrectly that Vargas was
convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, rather than ammunition.
Thus, we remand for correction of the clerical error. See Fed. R. Crim.
P. 36.
         The judgments are AFFIRMED, and this matter is REMANDED
for correction of the clerical error.

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