US v. Honorio Valdez-Elias, No. 13-4744 (4th Cir. 2014)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-4744 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. HONORIO VALDEZ-ELIAS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Thomas D. Schroeder, District Judge. (1:12-cr-00064-TDS-1) Submitted: March 27, 2014 Decided: April 16, 2014 Before NIEMEYER, MOTZ, and AGEE, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Louis C. Allen, Federal Public Defender, Mireille P. Clough, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellant. Ripley Rand, United States Attorney, Kyle D. Pousson, Special Assistant United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Honorio Valdez-Elias pled guilty to illegal reentry after removal as an aggravated felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b)(2) (2012). Guidelines range of He received a sentence within the eighty-five months imprisonment. On appeal, Valdez-Elias contends that his sentence is substantively unreasonable because it is greater than necessary to accomplish the goals of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (2012). In challenging Valdez-Elias contends the that We affirm. reasonableness he presented of his mitigating sentence, evidence demonstrating a sentence above the low end of the Guidelines range set to run concurrently with his discharged state sentence would be greater than necessary. Specifically, Valdez-Elias presented evidence that he grew up in a poor home in Mexico; that he worked continuously since he came to the United States; his prior convictions dependence; and that his were often linked sixteen-level to his sentencing overstated the nature of his present offense. alcohol enhancement He also requested that the district court run his federal sentence concurrently to a discharged state sentence because he was not arraigned in federal court until a year after his indictment, at which time he had already served the state sentence. that, had he been arraigned on 2 federal Valdez-Elias argued charges when the indictment was filed, he could have argued for a concurrent sentence under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5G1.3 (2012). We review a sentence for reasonableness, applying an abuse of discretion standard. 38, 51 (2007). examine the Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. If there is no significant procedural error, we substantive reasonableness of the sentence, tak[ing] into account the totality of the circumstances. Id. If the sentence is within or below the Guidelines range, we presume on appeal that the sentence is reasonable. United States v. Yooho Weon, 772 F.3d 583, 590 (4th Cir. 2013). After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that the district court adequately considered Valdez-Elias s arguments for a mitigated sentence and weighed them in light of the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. concluded that Valdez-Elias s The district court ultimately criminal history and propensity for violence and the need to protect the public warranted the sentence imposed. The court further rejected Valdez-Elias s request for imposition of a sentence concurrent to a discharged state sentence because Valdez-Elias had been in state custody for an unrelated offense. presented sufficient reasonableness that We conclude that Valdez-Elias has not grounds to disregard attaches to the Guidelines sentence. 3 the district presumption court s of within- Accordingly, we affirm the district court s judgment. We dispense contentions with are oral argument adequately because presented in the facts and the materials legal before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED 4
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