FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAR 16 2011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. 10-30042
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 2:09-cr-00023-DWM
v.
MEMORANDUM *
OSWALDO ZUNIGA-SANCHEZ,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Montana
Donald W. Molloy, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted March 8, 2011 **
Before: FARRIS, LEAVY, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.
Oswaldo Zuniga-Sanchez appeals from the 135-month sentence imposed
following his guilty plea conviction for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291, and we affirm.
*
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).
Zuniga-Sanchez contends that the district court erred in imposing a two-
level firearm enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1). The district court did
not clearly err in finding that the connection between the handgun and the drug
conspiracy was not “clearly improbable.” See United States v. Lopez-Sandoval,
146 F.3d 712, 714-16 (9th Cir. 1998).
Zuniga-Sanchez also contends that his sentence was substantively
unreasonable. The record reflects that the 135-month sentence at the low-end of
the Guidelines range was reasonable in light of the totality of the circumstances.
See United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 993 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc). The fact
that the district court acknowledged that a sentence at the statutory minimum of
120 months would also have been reasonable does not alter this conclusion, as the
“parsimony clause” of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) functions not as a constraint on
appellate review but rather as a directive to the district court in the first instance.
See United States v. Chavez, 611 F.3d 1006, 1010-11 (9th Cir. 2010) (per curiam).
AFFIRMED.
2 10-30042