United States v. Shilling ( 2021 )

Case: 20-30580 Document: 00515780763 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/15/2021
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
March 15, 2021
No. 20-30580 Lyle W. Cayce
Summary Calendar Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Ryan Joel Shilling,
Defendant—Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Louisiana
USDC No. 5:19-CR-258-1
Before King, Smith, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Ryan Joel Shilling pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child
pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2). He appeals his within-
guidelines sentence of 168 months of imprisonment, asserting that his
sentence is substantively unreasonable because the district court relied too
*
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opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited
circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
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No. 20-30580
heavily on the advisory guidelines range and failed to give appropriate weight
to the statutory sentencing factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). For the
reasons that follow, we AFFIRM.
Shilling asserts that the presumption of reasonableness typically
afforded to within-guideline sentences should not be applied in this case.
Further, he contends that the district court, in sentencing him, failed to
consider his drug addiction, his remorse, his post-arrest conduct, the
unlikelihood he will recidivate, and the long-term consequences of his
conviction.
Sentences within the properly calculated advisory guidelines range, as
is the case here, are presumed to be substantively reasonable. United States v.
Candia, 454 F.3d 468, 471 (5th Cir. 2006). We infer from such a sentence
that “the district court ‘has considered all the factors for a fair sentence set
forth in the Guidelines.’” Id. at 473 (quoting United States v. Johnson, 445
F.3d 793, 798 (5th Cir. 2006)). The presumption of reasonableness is
rebutted only upon a showing that the sentence “(1) does not account for a
factor that should have received significant weight, (2) gives significant
weight to an irrelevant or improper factor, or (3) represents a clear error of
judgment in balancing the sentencing factors.” United States v. Smith, 440
F.3d 704, 708 (5th Cir. 2006).
To begin, we reject Shilling’s argument that the presumption of
reasonableness should not apply in this case. These assertions amount to
nothing more than a disagreement with the Guidelines’ policy
considerations. And, although a district court may certainly depart from the
Guidelines based on policy considerations, its refusal to do so does not render
a sentence presumptively unreasonable. See, e.g., United States v. Mondragon-
Santiago, 564 F.3d 357, 366-67 (5th Cir. 2009) (noting that a district court’s
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No. 20-30580
refusal to consider policy does not require “discarding the presumption [of
reasonableness]”).
As to the remaining arguments, we find that the district court
considered the facts and circumstances of the case. It also considered—but,
ultimately rejected—Shilling’s objections to the correctly calculated
Guidelines range and Shilling’s request for sentencing leniency. See Smith,
440 F.3d at 708. At bottom, Shilling effectively invites us to reweigh the
§ 3553(a) factors. We decline to do so, in light of the fact that the district
court is “in a superior position to find facts and judge their import under
§ 3553(a) with respect to a particular defendant.” United States v. Campos-
Maldonado, 531 F.3d 337, 339 (5th Cir. 2008).
The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
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