Court Opinion

ID: 9384177
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-01 00:00:44.759254+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:51.303481
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50665         Document: 00516697299             Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/31/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                               United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit
                                       No. 22-50665
                                     Summary Calendar                                 FILED
                                     ____________                                March 31, 2023
                                                                                 Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                          Clerk

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Agapito Avila,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the Western District of Texas
                               USDC No. 5:21-CR-332-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Jolly, Oldham, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Agapito Avila pleaded guilty, pursuant to a written agreement that
   included an appeal waiver, to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in
   violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). The district court
   sentenced Avila to 120 months of imprisonment. Avila challenges his
   sentence, arguing that the Government breached the plea agreement when it

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50665      Document: 00516697299          Page: 2   Date Filed: 03/31/2023

                                    No. 22-50665

   failed to move for the third-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility
   under U.S.S.G. § 3El.l(b) and that the district court erred when it denied him
   the third level and also when it enhanced his sentence because Avila used or
   possessed a firearm or ammunition in connection with another felony
   offense.
          Despite Avila’s appeal waiver, we may reach whether the
   Government breached the plea agreement. See United States v. Purser, 747
   F.3d 284, 289 & n.11 (5th Cir. 2014). We need not, however, decide whether
   Avila preserved this error because his challenge fails even under a de novo
   standard. See United States v. Rodriguez, 602 F.3d 346, 361 (5th Cir. 2010).
          Based on the record as a whole, the district court did not clearly err
   when it found that Avila continued to participate in criminal activity after he
   entered his guilty plea because he violated prison rules to brew alcohol at the
   facility where he was detained. See United States v. Lord, 915 F.3d 1009, 1017
   (5th Cir. 2019). Because Avila did not qualify for a reduction for acceptance
   of responsibility, the conditions requiring that the Government move for the
   third-level reduction were not satisfied, and the Government did not breach
   the plea agreement when it did not make such a motion. See United States v.
   Cluff, 857 F.3d 292, 298-300 (5th Cir. 2017). Avila’s appeal of his sentence
   is barred by his appeal waiver. See Purser, 747 F.3d at 294-95.
          DISMISSED.

                                         2