USA v. Humberto Figueroa, No. 12-50974 (5th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
Case: 12-50974 Document: 00512380507 Page: 1 Date Filed: 09/20/2013 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS United States Court of Appeals FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Fifth Circuit FILED No. 12-50974 Summary Calendar September 20, 2013 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. HUMBERTO MARTIN SILVA FIGUEROA, also known as Yubani Heriberto Acevedo Ramos, also known as Martin Silva, also known as Martin SilvaFigueroa, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 3:12-CR-1078-1 Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and SMITH and DENNIS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Humberto Martin Silva Figueroa (Silva) appeals the 41-month within-guidelines sentences he received following his guilty plea to illegal reentry and falsely personating another in immigration matters. Silva argues that his sentences are greater than necessary to meet the sentencing goals of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). He specifically contends that the guidelines sentencing range * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 12-50974 Document: 00512380507 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/20/2013 No. 12-50974 was too severe because the district court failed to consider that his reentry offense was at bottom a mere trespass and did not consider his benign motive for returning. Additionally, Silva contends that his sentences are not entitled to a presumption of correctness because the illegal reentry Guideline, U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2, is not empirically based, given that it double-counts a defendant s criminal history. We review sentences for substantive reasonableness, in light of the § 3553(a) factors, under an abuse of discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 49-51 (2007). As he concedes, Silva s empirical data argument is foreclosed by this court s precedent. See United States v. Duarte, 569 F.3d 528, 529-31 (5th Cir. 2009); United States v. Mondragon-Santiago, 564 F.3d 357, 360 (5th Cir. 2009). We have rejected the argument that a guidelines sentence under § 2L1.2 is unreasonable because illegal reentry is a mere trespass offense. See United States v. Aguirre-Villa, 460 F.3d 681, 683 (5th Cir. 2006). Furthermore, Silva s sentences, which are at the bottom of the applicable guidelines range, are presumed reasonable. See United States v. Newson, 515 F.3d 374, 379 (5th Cir. 2008). His general disagreement with the propriety of his sentences and the district court s weighing of the § 3553(a) factors is insufficient to rebut the presumption of reasonableness that attaches to a within-guidelines sentence. See United States v. Cooks, 589 F.3d 173, 186 (5th Cir. 2009); United States v. Gomez-Herrera, 523 F.3d at 554, 565-66 (5th Cir. 2008). Silva has not demonstrated that the district court abused its discretion by sentencing him to within-guidelines sentences of 41 months in prison. See Gall, 552 U.S. at 51. Consequently, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED. 2
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
