United States v. Serrano-Meza
United States v. Serrano-Meza
Opinion
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit
FILED October 20, 2009 No. 08-50798 Conference Calendar Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
JOSE JUAN SERRANO-MEZA,
Defendant-Appellant
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 2:07-CR-979-1
Before WIENER, BENAVIDES, and STEWART, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Jose Juan Serrano-Meza appeals the 70-month within-guidelines sentence imposed following his guilty plea to illegal reentry following deportation in violation of
8 U.S.C. § 1326. He argues that his sentence is unreasonable because the illegal reentry guidelines double count a defendant’s criminal record, resulting in a sentencing range that is greater than necessary to meet the goals of
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). He also argues that this court should not afford his
* Pursuant to 5 TH C IR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5 TH C IR. R. 47.5.4. No. 08-50798
sentence a presumption of reasonableness because U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 is not empirically based. He contends that his sentence failed to reflect that he had no prior immigration convictions, that he did not realize he faced such a high sentence, that the longest sentence he had served was three years, and that he reentered this country to work. Serrano-Meza’s challenge to the presumption of reasonableness is foreclosed. See United States v. Duarte,
569 F.3d 528, 529-31(5th Cir. 2009), cert. denied,
2009 WL 3162196(Oct. 5, 2009) (No. 09-6195); see also United States v. Mondragon-Santiago,
564 F.3d 357, 366-67(5th Cir. 2009), cert. denied,
2009 WL 1849974(Oct. 5, 2009) (No. 08-11099). We have also rejected the argument that using a prior conviction to increase the offense level and in calculating criminal history is impermissible “double counting.” See United States v. Calbat,
266 F.3d 358, 364(5th Cir. 2001). Serrano-Meza has not rebutted the presumption that the district court sentenced him to a reasonable, properly calculated within-guidelines sentence. See United States v. Campos-Maldonado,
531 F.3d 337, 338(5th Cir.), cert. denied,
129 S. Ct. 328(2008); United States v. Alonzo,
435 F.3d 551, 554-55(5th Cir. 2006). The district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.
2
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished