[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 09-15934 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
JUNE 16, 2010
Non-Argument Calendar
JOHN LEY
________________________
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 09-00289-CR-01-TCB-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JOSE VERA-LOPEZ,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
_________________________
(June 16, 2010)
Before BLACK, BARKETT and HULL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Jose Vera-Lopez appeals his 24-month sentence imposed following his
guilty plea to illegal reentry into the United States following deportation, 8 U.S.C.
§ 1326(a). Vera-Lopez argues his sentence is substantively unreasonable in light
of the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors because it is greater than necessary to serve the
goals of sentencing. After review, we affirm Vera-Lopez’s sentence.1
The party challenging the sentence has the burden of showing it is
unreasonable in light of the record and the § 3553(a) factors. United States v.
Talley, 431 F.3d 784, 788 (11th Cir. 2005). We “recognize that there is a range of
reasonable sentences from which the district court may choose,” and we ordinarily
expect a sentence within the defendant’s advisory guideline range to be reasonable.
Id. “We will defer to the district court’s judgment regarding the weight given to
the § 3553(a) factors unless the district court has made a clear error of judgment.”
United States v. Gonzalez, 550 F.3d 1319, 1324 (11th Cir. 2008) (quotation
omitted), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 2848 (2009).
In this case, Vera-Lopez’s sentence was substantively reasonable. Given
Vera-Lopez’s history of immigration violations, the sentence reflects Vera-Lopez’s
history and characteristics, promotes respect for the law, and deters Vera-Lopez
from committing additional immigration offenses. The sentence also deters others
1
We review a sentence imposed by a district court for reasonableness, using an
abuse-of-discretion standard. United States v. Livesay, 587 F.3d 1274, 1278 (11th Cir. 2009).
2
from committing the crime of illegal reentry. Finally, Vera-Lopez’s sentence is
within his guideline range, which we ordinarily expect to be reasonable, and is
substantially below the ten-year statutory maximum sentence. Because the district
court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Vera-Lopez to a term of 24 months’
imprisonment, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
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