United States v. Salvador Viramontes-Rodriguez

Case: 09-50934 Document: 00511139453 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/11/2010 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED June 11, 2010 No. 09-50934 Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. SALVADOR VIRAMONTES-RODRIGUEZ, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 3:09-CR-1891-1 Before DAVIS, SMITH and DENNIS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Salvador Viramontes-Rodriguez (Viramontes) pleaded guilty to illegal reentry into the United States following deportation. See 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). Viramontes maintains that his 30-month sentence, which was below the properly calculated guidelines range, is substantively unreasonable. Viramontes’s assertion that his sentence is unreasonable is conclusory and unsupported by legal analysis. An appellate court is not required to search the record to find the legal basis for an issue. United States. v. Brace, 145 F.3d 247, * 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR .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: 09-50934 Document: 00511139453 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/11/2010 No. 09-50934 255 (5th Cir. 1998) (en banc). Because Viramontes is represented by counsel on appeal, his brief is not entitled to liberal construction. See Beasley v. McCotter, 798 F.2d 116, 118 (5th Cir. 1986). Issues must be briefed to be preserved. F ED. R. A PP. P. 28(a)(9). Consequently, given that Viramontes’s only issue for appeal has not been preserved, we do not consider it. Moreover, nothing in the briefs or the record gives us any reason to believe that the below guideline sentence is unreasonable. AFFIRMED. 2