United States v. Tapia-Cortez , 327 F. App'x 793 ( 2009 )

FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS May 19, 2009
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff–Appellee,
No. 08-2251
v. (D.C. No. 1:08-CR-01254-JB-1)
(D.N.M.)
MIGUEL TAPIA-CORTEZ,
Defendant–Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before LUCERO, MURPHY, and McCONNELL, Circuit Judges.
Miguel Tapia-Cortez pleaded guilty to one count of reentry of a removed
alien subsequent to a conviction for an aggravated felony in violation of 8 U.S.C.
§§ 1326(a)(1) and (b)(2). The district court denied his motion for a downward
variance and sentenced him to 41 months’ imprisonment followed by two years’
supervised release. Tapia-Cortez now appeals, arguing that the sentence imposed
*
The case is unanimously ordered submitted without oral argument
pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2) and 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). This order and
judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case,
res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the citation of
orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under the
terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
is substantively unreasonable. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and
18 U.S.C. § 3742, we affirm.
I
In 1997, Tapia-Cortez, a permanent resident alien at the time, was
convicted of two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree in Oregon state court.
As a result of these felony convictions, he lost his resident alien status and was
deported in 2004 after serving a 75-month term of imprisonment. In 2008, an
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agent encountered Tapia-Cortez
in a detention center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In the course of removal
proceedings, ICE determined that Tapia-Cortez had been previously deported,
leading to the charge underlying this case. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1326(a)(1), (b)(2).
On June 6, 2008, he entered a plea of guilty.
Prior to sentencing, a probation officer prepared a presentence report
(“PSR”) detailing Tapia-Cortez’s prior convictions and personal history. Based
on United States Sentencing Guidelines § 2L1.2, the PSR calculated a base
offense level of 8 and a 16-level specific offense characteristic enhancement for a
prior felony conviction for a crime of violence. Pursuant to § 3E1.1, it also
included a 3-level downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility for a
total offense level of 21. Based on his Oregon state convictions for sexual abuse,
the PSR assigned Tapia-Cortez 3 criminal history points, placing him in criminal
history category II. Based on the above, the PSR calculated a final advisory
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Guidelines range of 41 to 51 months’ imprisonment and 2 to 3 years’ supervised
release.
In response to the PSR, Tapia-Cortez filed a motion for a downward
variance. He argued that his circumstances warranted a variance because he was
culturally assimilated to the United States as a result of living here for almost
thirty years (the vast majority of his life), because nearly all his family lives here,
and because he returned to visit his ailing mother rather than for economic
reasons. He did not dispute that he was previously convicted for sexual abuse but
maintained his innocence with respect to those charges. The district court
addressed his arguments at the sentencing hearing and rejected them. It weighed
the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and decided that a sentence at the
bottom of the Guidelines range best reflected those considerations. It then
imposed a sentence of 41 months’ imprisonment followed by 2 years’ supervised
release. Tapia-Cortez renewed the argument he raised in his motion but otherwise
did not object. He now appeals his sentence.
II
Tapia-Cortez raises a single issue on appeal: whether the sentence imposed
was substantively unreasonable. He argues that the advisory Guidelines range for
unlawful reentry, when enhanced 16 levels for a prior crime of violence, resulted
in a sentence greater than necessary to achieve the goals of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a),
particularly in light of the fact that he was motivated to return by his mother’s
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illness. Specifically, he argues that the 16-level enhancement is not supported by
empirical evidence and therefore not entitled to our presumption that a within-
Guidelines sentence is reasonable. See United States v. Kristl, 437 F.3d 1050,
1054 (10th Cir. 2004) (establishing a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness
for within-Guidelines sentences).
After the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S.
220 (2005), this court reviews sentences for reasonableness. United States v.
Friedman, 554 F.3d 1301, 1307 (10th Cir. 2009).
Reasonableness review is a two-step process comprising a procedural
and a substantive component. Review for procedural reasonableness
focuses on whether the district court committed any error in
calculating or explaining the sentence. Review for substantive
reasonableness focuses on whether the length of the sentence is
reasonable given all the circumstances of the case in light of the
factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
Id. (quotations and citations omitted). We review Tapia-Cortez’s sentence for
abuse of discretion. Id. This standard “requir[es] substantial deference to district
courts. A district court abuses its discretion when it renders a judgment that is
arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or manifestly unreasonable.” Id. (quotations
omitted).
We first address Tapia-Cortez’s argument that we should not presume his
sentence is reasonable simply because it is within the Guidelines’ advisory range.
He argues that “[s]ince Kristl, the federal sentencing landscape has changed. In
Kimbrough[ v. United States, 128 S. Ct. 558 (2007)], the Supreme Court
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identified infirmities in guidelines that were not promulgated based on empirical
research.” He argues that, analogous to the crack cocaine Guidelines at issue in
Kimbrough, the unlawful reentry Guidelines at issue here are without an empirical
basis.
However, we need not make such a determination because Kimbrough does
not bear on whether we should apply our presumption of reasonableness.
Kimbrough addressed whether the district court, in exercising its discretion, was
permitted to consider whether a Guideline has an empirical basis, and the
Supreme Court held that it was. Id. This is a critical distinction because even
though a district court may not presume that a Guidelines sentence is reasonable,
an appellate court may. Gall v. United States, 128 S. Ct. 586, 597-98 (2007). We
note that the Supreme Court reaffirmed this distinction in Gall, the same day it
decided Kimbrough. Id. Before the district court, Tapia-Cortez did not advance
the argument that the unlawful reentry Guidelines lack an empirical basis, and the
district court did not consider it. Therefore, the issue of the district court’s
discretion to vary for this reason is not before us, and we do not consider it. On
the other hand, our presumption of reasonableness is based on the purpose of
promoting uniformity in sentencing, Kristl, 437 F.3d at 1054, and is thus equally
applicable in unlawful reentry cases as in other contexts. See United States v.
Navarrete-Medina, 554 F.3d 1312, 1313 (10th Cir. 2009) (applying the
presumption in an unlawful reentry case subsequent to Kimbrough).
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Under this standard, we conclude that Tapia-Cortez has failed to rebut the
presumption that his Guidelines sentence is substantively reasonable. Although
his motivation for reentry was neither unlawful nor simply economic, a virtuous
motivation for returning is not extraordinary, and it does not necessarily outweigh
the seriousness of his prior convictions. See id. at 1313-14. While returning to
visit one’s ill mother is a better reason than some for returning, Tapia-Cortez does
have six siblings who legally reside in Los Angeles, the same city as his mother.
As the district court noted, the circumstances of his sexual abuse convictions are
disturbing, and he has a number of other offenses on his record as well. We are
in a particularly poor position relative to the district court to evaluate Tapia-
Cortez’s cultural assimilation, and we defer to the district court’s determination
that his circumstances are not outside the norm in this respect. None of these
considerations suggest that Tapia-Cortez’s bottom-of-the-Guidelines sentence is
“arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or manifestly unreasonable.” Friedman, 554
F.3d at 1307.
III
AFFIRMED.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Carlos F. Lucero
Circuit Judge
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