United States v. Laureano-Perez
Opinion
Jesús Manuel Laureano-Pérez ("Laureano") appeals his sentence following his guilty plea in the district court to a two-count indictment. One count charged Laureano with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon,
The background facts are these. On May 5, 2016, Puerto Rico police agents investigating drug dealing in San Juan saw Laureano standing by a car and, when he in turn saw their marked police car, he fled on foot. The police pursued him and later said they saw Laureano draw a firearm from a fanny pack, throw it over a fence, and toss the other contents of the fanny pack on the ground. The police recovered the firearm, high-capacity magazines for the weapon, and four cell phones. The authorities then discovered that Laureano, at the time he fled, had been serving a term of supervisory release following his federal conviction in 2013 of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. 21 § U.S.C. 841(a)(1).
In due course, Laureano pled guilty to both counts arising out of the fanny pack incident. At the sentencing hearing, the district court learned that two days prior, the judge in Laureano's original drug distribution case ordered him to serve two *52 additional years of incarceration for violating his supervised release terms.
As for the firearm charges stemming from the fanny pack incident, the district court determined that the guideline sentencing range for both counts was thirty-seven to forty-six months in prison, although the machine gun statute allowed for a sentence up to and including ten years' imprisonment.
On this appeal, Laureano first objects to the sixty-month sentences. Laureano argues that the district court improperly relied on community considerations and in doing so, failed to explain why an upward variance was warranted.
Just before the end of the sentencing hearing, defense counsel offered a portmanteau reference to the procedural and substantive unreasonableness of the sentence-a classic general objection rather than a specific one.
United States
v.
Matos-de-Jesús
,
During sentencing, the district court judge referred to "violent crimes and murders" occurring in "these weapons cases" and an uptick in the number of murders in Puerto Rico. He also referred to a joint firearms initiative and local law enforcement strategies to curtail the murder rate.
A district court has considerable latitude to vary above or below the once rigidly enforced guidelines sentencing range,
Gall
v.
United States
,
Although the district court judge considered community considerations, he did not ignore Laureano's individual circumstances, nor did he fail to justify the variance.
See
United States
v.
Paulino-Guzman
,
Recent First Circuit decisions by successive panels have upheld variances on similar facts, despite a possible argument that this disregards the conventional rationale for variances.
*53
United States
v.
Garay-Sierra
,
Laureano's other claim on appeal is that the district court erred in subjecting him to a drug testing requirement. Although fairly alerted by the Probation Officer's recommendation, counsel made no specific objection to the testing requirement when first raised as a possibility or when finally imposed. The defendant forfeited his objection and his claimed error, if it occurred, is not plain error.
United States
v.
Garrasteguy
,
The Probation Officer recommended random drug testing, which was a supervised release condition previously imposed following Laureano's incarceration for the 2013 drug conviction. Laureano did not object to the condition and so the district court had no occasion to discuss it, but the court's reasoning is easily discerned.
United States
v.
Quiñones-Otero
,
Affirmed .
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jesús Manuel LAUREANO-PÉREZ, Defendant, Appellant.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published