Court Opinion

ID: 9946997
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-01 21:00:51.911598+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:44.736488
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 23-4391      Doc: 23         Filed: 02/29/2024    Pg: 1 of 3

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 23-4391

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                            Plaintiff - Appellee,

                     v.

        SUSANA ROSALDO-CRUZ, a/k/a Sandra Martinez-Rodriguez,

                            Defendant - Appellant.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at
        Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:22-cr-00348-WO-2)

        Submitted: February 27, 2024                                 Decided: February 29, 2024

        Before WILKINSON, WYNN, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

        Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        ON BRIEF:         Mark R. Sigmon, MILBERG COLEMAN BRYSON PHILLIPS
        GROSSMAN, PLLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. Sandra J. Hairston, United
        States Attorney, Julie C. Niemeier, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE
        UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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        PER CURIAM:

               Susana Rosaldo-Cruz pled guilty, pursuant to a written plea agreement, to

        distribution of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A). The

        district court imposed a sentence of 216 months’ imprisonment, below the advisory

        Sentencing Guidelines range.     On appeal, Rosaldo-Cruz argues that the sentence is

        procedurally and substantively unreasonable compared to the sentence of 144 months’

        imprisonment that her codefendant received. We affirm.

               We review “all sentences—whether inside, just outside, or significantly outside the

        Guidelines range—under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.” United States v.

        Torres-Reyes, 952 F.3d 147, 151 (4th Cir. 2020) (internal quotation marks omitted). In

        conducting this review, we must first ensure that the sentence is procedurally reasonable,

        “consider[ing] whether the district court properly calculated the defendant’s advisory

        [G]uidelines range, gave the parties an opportunity to argue for an appropriate sentence,

        considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, and sufficiently explained the selected

        sentence.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). If the sentence is free of “significant

        procedural error,” we then review it for substantive reasonableness, “tak[ing] into account

        the totality of the circumstances.” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007).

               We are satisfied that Rosaldo-Cruz’s sentence is procedurally reasonable. The

        district court properly calculated Rosaldo-Cruz’s Guidelines range, adequately considered

        the § 3553(a) factors, providing a meaningful explanation for the sentence it chose, and

        sufficiently addressed Rosaldo-Cruz’s arguments. See Gall, 552 U.S. at 49-51. The court

        also granted in part her request for a downward variance based on Rosaldo-Cruz’s limited

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        criminal history and the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities. Accordingly, we

        discern no procedural error in Rosaldo-Cruz’s sentence.

               We also conclude that Rosaldo-Cruz has failed to rebut the presumption of

        substantive reasonableness afforded to her below-Guidelines sentence. While the court

        found that Rosaldo-Cruz had a similar criminal background to her codefendant, it also

        found that Rosaldo-Cruz was a substantial part of the drug conspiracy, was responsible for

        a significantly larger drug weight than that for which she was held responsible, and had

        made several attempts to minimize her role. The court accordingly found that a sentence

        of 216 months’ imprisonment was sufficient but not greater than necessary given the

        § 3553(a) factors.

               We therefore affirm the criminal judgment. We dispense with oral argument

        because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this

        court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                                        AFFIRMED

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