United States v. Felipe Zamora-Villela

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION JAN 21 2011 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 09-50595 Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:08-cr-02571-JAH v. MEMORANDUM * FELIPE ZAMORA-VILLELA, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California John A. Houston, District Judge, Presiding Submitted January 10, 2011 ** Before: BEEZER, TALLMAN, and CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges. Felipe Zamora-Villela appeals from the 36-month mandatory minimum sentence imposed following his jury-trial conviction for bringing in illegal aliens for financial gain, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii), bringing in illegal aliens without presentation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(iii), and * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). aiding and abetting, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm. Zamora-Villela contends that because 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) permits a district court to impose a sentence below a mandatory minimum, the district court erred by imposing a substantively unreasonable sentence. Zamora-Villela’s contention is foreclosed by United States v. Wipf, 620 F.3d 1168, 1170-71 (9th Cir. 2010) (Subsection (a) of section 3553 does not authorize a court to impose a sentence below the mandatory statutory minimum). AFFIRMED. 2 09-50595