United States v. Ortega ( 2022 )

Case: 21-40728 Document: 00516329702 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/23/2022
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
May 23, 2022
No. 21-40728
Lyle W. Cayce
Summary Calendar Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Veronica Ortega,
Defendant—Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
No. 7:19-CR-2342-1
Before Smith, Stewart, and Graves, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Veronica Ortega appeals her within-guidelines sentence for accep-
tance of a bribe by a public official, maintaining that the district court did not
properly consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. Ortega also contends, for
the first time on appeal, that she is eligible for relief under 18 U.S.C.
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this
opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circum-
stances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 21-40728 Document: 00516329702 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/23/2022
No. 21-40728
§ 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). We decline to consider the latter contention in this
appeal. See Montano v. Texas, 867 F.3d 540, 546 (5th Cir. 2017).
Ortega’s challenge to the substantive reasonableness of her sentence
is reviewed for abuse of discretion. See Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51
(2007). This court presumes that a sentence within a properly calculated
guidelines range is reasonable, a presumption rebutted “only upon a showing
that the sentence does not account for a factor that should receive significant
weight, it gives significant weight to an irrelevant or improper factor, or it
represents a clear error of judgment in balancing sentencing factors.” United
States v. Cooks, 589 F.3d 173, 186 (5th Cir. 2009).
The presumption is not rebutted here. The record shows that the dis-
trict court listened to Ortega and her counsel, considered the § 3553(a) fac-
tors, and made an individualized assessment based on the facts. Ortega may
disagree with how the court balanced the § 3553(a) factors, but that is not
sufficient to warrant relief. See United States v. Illies, 805 F.3d 607, 609 (5th
Cir. 2015).
AFFIRMED.
2