UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 12-4576
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ALBERTO VALENZUELA-CUEVES,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen,
Jr., Chief District Judge. (1:10-cr-00419-WO-1)
Submitted: March 26, 2013 Decided: March 28, 2013
Before DUNCAN, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Louis C. Allen III, Federal Public Defender, Mireille P. Clough,
Assistant Federal Public Defender, Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, for Appellant. Ripley Rand, United States Attorney,
Sandra J. Hairston, Assistant United States Attorney,
Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Alberto Valenzuela-Cueves appeals the 168-month
sentence imposed by the district court following his guilty plea
to possession with intent to distribute 6,928.7 grams of cocaine
and 1,747.9 grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A.
§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A) (West 1999 & Supp. 2012). On appeal,
Valenzuela-Cueves contends that the district court’s sentence
was substantively unreasonable when measured against the 18
U.S.C. § 3553(a) (2006) factors. Finding no error, we affirm.
We must evaluate a procedurally reasonable sentence *
for substantive reasonableness, “tak[ing] into account the
totality of the circumstances.” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S.
38, 51 (2007). If the sentence imposed is within the
appropriate Sentencing Guidelines range, as in this case, it is
presumptively reasonable. United States v. Abu Ali, 528 F.3d
210, 261 (4th Cir. 2008). The presumption may be rebutted by a
showing “that the sentence is unreasonable when measured against
the § 3553(a) factors.” United States v. Montes-Pineda, 445
F.3d 375, 379 (4th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks
omitted). We conclude that, under the totality of the
circumstances, Valenzuela-Cueves failed to rebut the presumption
*
Valenzuela-Cueves does not challenge on appeal the
procedural reasonableness of the sentence.
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of reasonableness afforded to the within-Guidelines sentence.
Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion in
sentencing Valenzuela-Cueves to 168 months’ imprisonment. See
United States v. Lynn, 592 F.3d 572, 576, 578 (4th Cir. 2010)
(providing standard of review).
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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