U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2008

United States v. Alberto Espino Cruz

United States v. Alberto Espino Cruz
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Decided April 29, 2008 · Birch, Dubina, Goldberg, Per Curiam
275 F. App'x 835

United States v. Alberto Espino Cruz

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Appellant, Alberto Espino Cruz (“Cruz”), pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute more than five grams of methamphetamine. The district court sentence Cruz to 87 months imprisonment and Cruz then perfected this appeal.

The issue on appeal is whether the district court relied on impermissible factual *836 considerations in sentencing Cruz to a sentence at the top of the applicable Guidelines range.

“Whether a [sentencing] factor is impermissible is a question of law [this court] reviews de novo.” United States v. Williams, 456 F.3d 1353, 1361 (11th Cir. 2006). The party challenging the sentence bears the burden of showing that the district court considered an unreasonable factor. Id. Where a party fails to raise an objection during the sentencing, that objection is waived on appeal and reviewed for plain error only. United States v. Zinn, 321 F.3d 1084, 1088 (11th Cir. 2003).

After reviewing the record, reading the parties’ briefs, and having the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that the district court did not commit plain error 1 in sentencing Cruz. See United States v. Rodriguez, 398 F.3d 1291, 1298 (2005). Accordingly, we affirm Cruz’s sentence.

AFFIRMED.

1

. Counsel for Cruz conceded at oral argument that plain error review applies in this case.

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