Court Opinion

ID: 9928845
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-01 01:00:44.868269+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:55:37.034326
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50939         Document: 00517051837             Page: 1      Date Filed: 01/31/2024

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

                                                                                             FILED
                                       No. 22-50939                                   January 31, 2024
                                     Summary Calendar
                                                                                        Lyle W. Cayce
                                     ____________
                                                                                             Clerk

   United States of America,

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Hernaldo Perea Beltran,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the Western District of Texas
                                USDC No. 7:00-CR-46-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Wiener, Elrod, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Defendant-Appellant Hernaldo Perea Beltran, federal prisoner #
   51158-180, appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for compassionate
   release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). He contends that the district
   court’s order denying his motion was unclear and failed to (1) reach the issues
   surrounding his proffered extraordinary and compelling reasons for

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50939      Document: 00517051837          Page: 2   Date Filed: 01/31/2024

                                    No. 22-50939

   compassionate release, and (2) provide sufficient information for this court
   to determine whether the district court acted within its discretion. He also
   contends that the district court abused its discretion by failing to address
   whether the U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13 policy statement is binding. We review the
   denial of a motion for compassionate release for abuse of discretion. United
   States v. Chambliss, 948 F.3d 691, 693 (5th Cir. 2020).
          Perea Beltran filed a motion for compassionate release under 18
   U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), claiming that the COVID-19 virus puts his life at
   risk and that he needs to care for his elderly mother. The district court, in a
   one-paragraph order, denied the motion. In our previous consideration of
   Perea Beltran’s appeal, we remanded for the limited purpose of having the
   district court clarify its reasons for denying his motion for compassionate
   release. United States v. Perea Beltran, No. 22-50939, 2023 WL 5347288, at
   *2 (5th Cir. Aug. 21, 2023). On remand, the district court stated that it had
   reviewed the merits of Perea Beltran’s motion and the entire record and had
   determined that the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors did not support early release.
   Specifically, the district court noted Perea Beltran’s status as the leader or
   organizer of a large drug distribution organization, the large amount of
   cocaine that he sold in the four years preceding his arrest, the applicable
   guidelines range of imprisonment, the 420-month sentence imposed (later
   reduced to 342 months), and his prison disciplinary record. The district
   court determined that a reduction in sentence was not justified in light of the
   nature and circumstances of his offense, his criminal history inside and
   outside of prison, and his other characteristics. The district court further
   explained that reducing Perea Beltran’s sentence would not reflect the
   seriousness of the offense, adequately deter criminal conduct, or protect the
   public from further crimes.
          A district court is not required “to make a point-by-point rebuttal of
   the parties’ arguments[;] [a]ll that is required is for a district court to

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Case: 22-50939     Document: 00517051837           Page: 3   Date Filed: 01/31/2024

                                    No. 22-50939

   demonstrate that it has considered the arguments before it.” Concepcion v.
   United States, 597 U.S. 481, 502 (2022). Here, the district court’s new order
   sets forth thorough reasons for its denial of Perea Beltran’s compassionate
   release motion under § 3553(a), and thus provides a sufficient explanation.
   See id.; Chambliss, 948 F.3d at 693-94. Because Perea Beltran has not shown
   that the district court abused its discretion in denying relief under the §
   3553(a) factors, we need not consider any arguments regarding the existence
   of extraordinary and compelling circumstances or the applicability of policy
   statements. See United States v. Jackson, 27 F.4th 1088, 1093 n.8 (5th Cir.
   2022); Ward v. United States, 11 F.4th 354, 360-62 (5th Cir. 2021) (“The
   district court has discretion to deny compassionate release if the Section
   3553(a) factors counsel against a reduction.”).
          Finally, we need not consider Perea Beltran’s insistence, raised for the
   first time in his reply brief, that we should remand this case to the district
   court with instructions to hold the matter in abeyance pending the issuance
   of new amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines. See United States v.
   Rodriguez, 602 F.3d 346, 360-61 (5th Cir. 2010); Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d
   222, 224-25 (5th Cir. 1993).
          AFFIRMED.

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