[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
JUNE 20, 2011
No. 10-13509
JOHN LEY
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
D.C. Docket No. 1:09-cr-00220-RWS-AJB-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JUAN MARGARITO SOSA,
Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
(June 20, 2011)
Before TJOFLAT, CARNES and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Juan Margarito Sosa (“Sosa”) appeals his 36-month sentence, imposed after
he pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States after being deported, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1326(a) and (b)(2). When calculating the applicable
guidelines range of 46 to 57 months, the district court applied a 16-level
enhancement to Sosa’s criminal offense level based on a previous conviction for
aggravated assault causing bodily injury, and pursuant to U.S.S.G.
§ 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii). On appeal, Sosa argues that his sentence was substantively
unreasonable because (1) pursuant to Kimbrough v. United States, 552 U.S. 85,
128 S.Ct. 558, 169 L.Ed.2d 481 (2007), the 16-level enhancement over-
represented his criminal history; and (2) the district failed to adequately consider
several mitigating factors that he presented, including his history and
characteristics.
We review all sentences for reasonableness under a deferential abuse of
discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41, 128 S.Ct. 586, 591,
169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007). The district court is required to impose a sentence that is
“sufficient, but not greater than necessary to comply with the purposes” listed in
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2), including the need to reflect the seriousness of the
offense, promote respect for the law, provide just punishment for the offense, deter
criminal conduct, protect the public from the defendant’s future criminal conduct,
2
and provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training or
medical care. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2). In imposing a particular sentence, the court
must also consider the nature and circumstances of the offense, the history and
characteristics of the defendant, the kinds of sentences available, the applicable
guidelines range, the pertinent policy statements of the Sentencing Commission,
the need to avoid unwanted sentencing disparities, and the need to provide
restitution to victims. Id. §§ 3553(a)(1), (3)-(7).
A sentence is substantively reasonable if it achieves the purposes of
sentencing as enumerated in § 3553(a). United States v. Talley, 431 F.3d 784, 788
(11th Cir. 2005). We may reverse a sentence only if we are left with the definite
and firm conviction that the district court committed a clear error of judgment in
weighing the § 3553(a) factors. United States v. Pugh, 515 F.3d 1179, 1191 (11th
Cir. 2008). Indicia of substantive reasonableness include being within the
applicable guidelines range, Talley, 431 F.3d at 788, and the sentence’s relation to
the applicable statutory maximum. See United States v. Gonzalez, 550 F.3d 1319,
1324 (11th Cir. 2008) (considering that defendant’s sentence was well below the
statutory maximum in finding the sentence substantively reasonable). The
appellant carries the burden of demonstrating a sentence is unreasonable in light of
the record and the § 3553(a) factors. Talley, 431 F.3d at 788.
3
Sosa’s 36-month sentence is reasonable. His reliance on Kimbrough v.
United States, 552 U.S. 85, 128 S.Ct. 558, 169 L.Ed.2d 481 (2007) is misplaced,
because Kimbrough only applies to the crack-cocaine sentencing disparity found
in the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Neither this Court nor other Circuits have
applied it to the 16-level enhancement Sosa now challenges. See, e.g., United
States v. Moreno-Padilla, 602 F.3d 802, 814 (7th Cir. 2010) (rejecting
Kimbrough-based attack on the enhancement); United States v. Lopez-Reyes, 589
F.3d 667, 671 (3d Cir. 2009) (same); United States v. Mondragon-Santiago, 564
F.3d 357, 367 (5th Cir. 2009) (same). Further, the enhancement does not speak to
an offender’s criminal history, but rather is what the Sentencing Commission has
determined to be a necessary deterrent to those who would illegally reenter the
United States after having committed a felony crime of violence. See United
States v. Adeleke, 968 F.2d 1159, 1160 (11th Cir. 1992) (Sentencing Commission
may have concluded that an alien who has been convicted of a felony should be
strongly deterred from re-entering the United States).
Further, Sosa’s sentence falls below the applicable guidelines range, and
such sentences are ordinarily expected to be reasonable. See Talley, 431 F.3d at
788. Additionally, that Sosa’s 36-month sentence also falls well below the
maximum 20-year sentence he could have received is evidence of its
4
reasonableness. See United States v. Valnor, 451 F.3d 744, 751-52 (11th Cir.
2006) (citing the fact that the sentence received was “appreciably below” the
length of the statutory maximum to support reasonableness determination). While
Sosa argues that the district court gave inadequate consideration to several
mitigating factors he presented, the record demonstrates that the sentencing judge
based a 8-month downward variance on Sosa’s mental health and Georgia’s lack
of a “fast-track program.” The district court further considered Sosa’s traumatic
experiences in Honduras, among other facts implicating § 3553(a) factors. We do
not question the weight the district court applies to each § 3553(a) factor. United
States v. Williams, 526 F.3d 1312, 1322 (11th Cir. 2008). Sosa has not
demonstrated that the district court committed a clear error of judgment in
weighing the § 3553(a) factors. Accordingly, we affirm the sentence as
reasonable.
AFFIRMED.
5