United States v. Jose Escobar-Escobar

NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT MAR 06 2015 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 14-50021 U.S. COURT OF APPEALS Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:13-cr-03794-LAB-1 v. MEMORANDUM* JOSE ESCOBAR-ESCOBAR, AKA Jesus Escobar-Escobar, AKA Jesus Escobar- Hernandez, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Larry A. Burns, District Judge, Presiding Submitted March 2, 2015** Pasadena California Before: PREGERSON, FERNANDEZ, and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges. Jose Escobar-Escobar appeals the sentence imposed by the district court following a conviction for a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing. * 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). In imposing a high-end sentence of 16 months, the district court stated that “as part of [his] thinking in this case,” he considered the costs to the taxpayers in providing Escobar with legal representation, court process, and incarceration. A district court, however, may not consider cost as a sentencing factor. See United States v. Tapia-Romero, 523 F.3d 1125, 1127 (9th Cir. 2008) (stating that § 3553(a) “neither requires, nor allows, a court to consider the cost of imprisonment in determining the appropriate length of a defendant’s term of imprisonment”). VACATED AND REMANDED.