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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 13-12129
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 1:12-cr-20412-JAL-7
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LEONARDO F. CABRERA,
a.k.a. El Mecanico,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
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(March 12, 2014)
Before TJOFLAT, PRYOR and JORDAN, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Leonardo F. Cabrera appeals his sentence of 15 months of imprisonment
following his plea of guilty to conspiring to encourage and induce an alien to
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illegally enter and reside in the United States. See 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I).
Cabrera argues that his sentence is procedurally and substantively unreasonable.
We affirm.
Cabrera argues that his sentence is procedurally unreasonable because the
district court failed to consider the statutory sentencing factors, see 18 U.S.C
§ 3553(a), but we disagree. The district considered Cabrera’s role as a co-pilot and
mechanic of a boat used in the conspiracy; his involvement in an earlier smuggling
trip; the dangerousness of and profit derived from the conspiracy; his lack of a
criminal history; his minor role in the conspiracy; and the need for his sentence to
promote respect for the immigration laws, to provide adequate punishment, and to
deter him from future similar crimes. See id. § 3553(a)(1)– (5). The district court
also considered the sentence imposed on a codefendant, Cardet Mombiela, and
Cabrera’s struggle with depression. See id. § 3553(a)(6), (1). Based on the
consideration given the sentencing factors, we are satisfied that the district court
had a “reasoned basis for exercising [its] own legal decisionmaking authority,”
United States v. Agbai, 497 F.3d 1226, 1230 (11th Cir. 2007) (quoting Rita v.
United States, 551 U.S. 338, 356, 127 S. Ct. 2456, 2468 (2007)). Cabrera’s
sentence is procedurally reasonable.
The district court did not abuse its discretion by sentencing Cabrera to 15
months of imprisonment. Cabrera co-piloted a boat from Miami to the Bahamas,
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where he refueled and made repairs to the boat while waiting for his codefendants
to collect between 30 and 70 Cuban nationals, each of whom had paid $10,000 to
be transported to the United States. Although Cuban authorities interrupted that
venture, Cabrera previously had been involved in transporting other aliens.
Cabrera requested a sentence 8 months below the bottom of his advisory guideline
range of 15 to 20 months of imprisonment, in part, because of the 7-month
sentence received by Mombiela, but the district court reasonably rejected that
request. Cabrera was not similarly situated to Mombiela, a younger man who had
been pressured by his step-father to deliver $6,000 to the Bahamas to purchase
supplies for one smuggling trip. The district court reasonably determined that a
sentence below Cabrera’s recommended range would not adequately address the
statutory sentencing factors. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Cabrera argues that the
district court focused on the seriousness of his offense and “lost sight” of his
personal history and health, but “we will not substitute our judgment in weighing
the relevant [sentencing] factors,” United States v. Amedeo, 487 F.3d 823, 832
(11th Cir. 2007) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Cabrera’s
sentence at the low end of the advisory range, which is well below his maximum
statutory sentence of 120 months, is reasonable.
We AFFIRM Cabrera’s sentence.
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