US v. Brahim Lajqi, No. 11-4278 (4th Cir. 2011)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 11-4278 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. BRAHIM LAJQI, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. Roger W. Titus, District Judge. (8:10cr-00502-RWT-1) Submitted: November 10, 2011 Decided: December 14, 2011 Before NIEMEYER and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. James Wyda, Federal Public Defender, LaKeytria W. Felder, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Rod J. Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Gregory Welsh, Assistant United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Brahim Lajqi appeals his sixty-month variant sentence imposed after his plea of guilty to visa fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a) (2006). Lajqi conduct upon first which We affirm. argues the on appeal variance was that based the uncharged should have been proved by clear and convincing evidence because it substantially increased reasonable his sentence based on beyond the that offense which of would conviction have been alone. Our United States v. precedent squarely forecloses this argument. Grubbs, 585 F.3d 793, 801 (4th Cir. 2009), cert. denied, 130 S. Ct. 1923 (2010). substantively Lajqi also argues unreasonable. We that review his a sentence sentence reasonableness, applying an abuse of discretion standard. v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). In was for Gall reviewing substantive reasonableness, we examine[] the totality of the circumstances to see whether the sentencing court abused its discretion in concluding that the sentence it chose satisfied the standards set forth in § 3553(a). United Mendoza-Mendoza, 597 F.3d 212, 216 (4th Cir. 2010). States v. Contrary to Lajqi s argument, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (2006) does not require any further consideration of the strength of the evidence regarding uncharged conduct after the court finds facts by a preponderance. Lajqi s argument that the factual basis for the 2 variance was conviction insufficiently similarly relevant relies on a to factor the offense not found § 3553(a), and is not supported by our precedent. of within United States v. Hernandez-Villanueva, 473 F.3d 118, 123-24 (4th Cir. 2007) (affirming, for conviction for illegal reentry, variant sentence imposed where court found that defendant continued to associate with MS-13 after reentry and sentence was necessary to protect public and likelihood deter of insufficient to others). Lajqi s recidivism warranted show that the contention a that lesser district court his low sentence is abused its with oral discretion. Accordingly, we affirm. We dispense argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED 3
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