United States v. Serrano-Meza

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States v. Serrano-Meza, 333 F. App'x 889 (5th Cir. 2009)

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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5 TH C IR.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