USA v. Roberto Garcia-Lara

Filing

UNPUBLISHED OPINION FILED. [14-50699 Affirmed ] Judge: TMR , Judge: JLD , Judge: LHS Mandate pull date is 05/13/2015 for Appellant Roberto Simon Garcia-Lara [14-50699]

Case: 14-50699

Document: 00513016421

Page: 1

Date Filed: 04/22/2015

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-50699
Summary Calendar

United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit

FILED
April 22, 2015

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee

Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk

v.
ROBERTO SIMON GARCIA-LARA,
Defendant-Appellant
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 2:13-CR-1336-1
Before REAVLEY, DENNIS, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Roberto Simon Garcia-Lara appeals the 80-month within-guidelines
sentence he received for his guilty plea to illegal reentry. Garcia-Lara argues
that his sentence is greater than necessary to meet the sentencing goals of 18
U.S.C. § 3553(a). He specifically contends that the guidelines sentencing range
was too severe because his prior burglary conviction was used to enhance his
offense level under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 and to increase his criminal history score,

Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH
CIR. R. 47.5.4.
*

Case: 14-50699

Document: 00513016421

Page: 2

Date Filed: 04/22/2015

No. 14-50699
because his motive for returning to the United States was to work, because his
offense was essentially an international trespass, and because his longest prior
sentence was three years.

He argues that his within-guidelines sentence

should not be afforded a presumption of reasonableness because the illegal
reentry Guideline, § 2L1.2, lacks an empirical basis.
We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence for an abuse of
discretion. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). A presumption of
reasonableness applies to Garcia-Lara’s within-guidelines sentence.

See

United States v. Alonzo, 435 F.3d 551, 554 (5th Cir. 2006). As Garcia-Lara
correctly concedes, the argument that a presumption of reasonableness should
not apply to his sentence because § 2L1.2 lacks empirical support has been
rejected by this court. See United States v. Duarte, 569 F.3d 528, 529-31 (5th
Cir. 2009); United States v. Mondragon-Santiago, 564 F.3d 357, 366-67 (5th
Cir. 2009). We have also rejected the arguments that illegal reentry is merely
an international trespass offense that is treated too harshly under § 2L1.2, see
United States v. Aguirre-Villa, 460 F.3d 681, 683 (5th Cir. 2006), and that a
sentence imposed pursuant to § 2L1.2 is greater than necessary to meet
§ 3553(a)’s goals as a result of any double counting inherent in that Guideline,
see Duarte, 569 F.3d at 529-31.
Garcia-Lara’s contentions regarding his mitigating factors and benign
motive do not rebut the presumption of reasonableness. See United States v.
Cooks, 589 F.3d 173, 186 (5th Cir. 2009); see also United States v. GomezHerrera, 523 F.3d 554, 565-66 (5th Cir. 2008). Accordingly, the judgment of
the district court is AFFIRMED.

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