United States v. Candia

454 F.3d 468, 2006 WL 1752158
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJune 28, 2006
Docket05-30213
StatusPublished
Cited by247 cases

This text of 454 F.3d 468 (United States v. Candia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Candia, 454 F.3d 468, 2006 WL 1752158 (5th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge:

Delio Jesus Candía pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and was sentenced within an applicable sentencing range properly calculated under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines *471 Manual (“U.S.S.G.,” “federal guidelines,” or “guidelines”) (2006). Candía appeals this post-Booker 1 advisory guidelines sentence as unreasonable and as an abuse of discretion because it was imposed consecutively to an undischarged state sentence.

This appeal presents a question of first impression: When the district court imposes a sentence within a properly calculated advisory guidelines range, what is the standard applied to review its order that the sentence run consecutively to an undischarged state sentence? We hold that, under Booker, the consecutive nature of a properly calculated guidelines sentence is reviewed for unreasonableness. We further hold that when a district court imposes a sentence according to the applicable advisory guidelines for imposition of a consecutive sentence, and also imposes that sentence within a properly calculated sentencing range, the sentence’s consecutiveness enjoys a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness.

The record reveals that the district court properly interpreted and applied advisory federal sentencing guidelines in its determination to run Candia’s sentence consecutive to his state sentence as well as in its calculation of the applicable advisory sentencing range. Both the term of imprisonment and its consecutiveness were imposed within the applicable sentencing provisions. Candía does not cite any statutory or jurisprudential support for his argument that this sentence is unreasonable and does not challenge the district court’s calculation of the applicable guidelines range. Accordingly, we affirm this consecutive sentence as not unreasonable.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In November 2003, Candía pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, the first count of his eight count indictment. The factual basis for Candia’s plea stated that between January 1, 1988, and November 14, 2000, Candía conspired with Kenneth Leday and others to possess and distribute cocaine and cocaine base, and that Candía had possessed and distributed over ten kilograms of cocaine. The record reflects that Candia’s was a voluntary plea and that the district court advised Candía that he could be sentenced anywhere within the statutory range of imprisonment-ten years to life. The district court ordered a presentence investigation report (“PSR”).

Applying the federal guidelines, the PSR recommended a base offense level of 38 due to information that Candía had distributed more than 150 kilograms of cocaine. According to the PSR, Kenneth Leday stated that Candía began selling cocaine powder to Leday in late 1995. Leday indicated that he and Candía jointly trafficked cocaine and that, during the twenty-two month period ending in November 1997, Candía had supplied Leday with no less than ten kilograms per month. The PSR also indicated that Brian Lemelle, one of Leday’s contacts in Atlanta, Georgia, estimated that of about one hundred fifty kilograms of powder cocaine he received from Candía and Leday, all but twenty-five to thirty kilograms belonged to Candía.

The PSR also recommended a two point reduction for acceptance of responsibility and a total offense level of 36. The PSR indicated that in January 2003 Candía had pled guilty to a Texas state possession of cocaine charge for offense conduct that occurred in May 2002. This conviction resulted in an eight year state sentence of imprisonment. The PSR reflected a total *472 of four criminal history points comprised of three points for this state conviction and one point for a January 2003 state conviction for evading arrest on New Year’s Eve in 1999 — -thus resulting in a Category III criminal history. The PSR’s recommended sentencing range of 235 to 293 months imprisonment is the range provided in the sentencing table, U.S.S.G. Chapter Five, Part A., for a Category III criminal history at offense level 36.

Candía objected, inter alia, to the quantities of drugs attributed to him in the PSR, and the sentencing hearing took place in February 2005. In response to Candia’s objections, the Government adduced evidence that included the following: Kenneth Leday testified that Candía had supplied him with 10 to 20 kilograms of cocaine per month over the course of two years, for a total of approximately 168 kilograms. Leday and other co-conspirators distributed the cocaine purchased from Candía in Lake Charles, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and in Atlanta, Georgia. Leday introduced Candía to Brian and Robert Lemelle, Leday’s contacts in Atlanta, and Candía began to sell cocaine directly to them.

In light of Booker, the district court declined to address the individual objections to the PSR. Instead, the district court stated that it had considered all 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors. The district court orally applied most of the factors, noting the absence of aggravating or mitigating factors that warranted a sentence outside the sentencing range applicable under the guidelines. The district court found the factual statements in the PSR to be “in harmony with the evidence presented,” adopted those factual findings, and concluded that the sentencing range applicable under the advisory federal guidelines was between 235 and 293 months of imprisonment.

Candía requested a concurrent sentence. The Government did not oppose his request. Nevertheless, the district court sentenced Candía to serve 280 months imprisonment, to run consecutively to the undischarged 8 year Texas sentence, followed by a five year term of supervised release. Candía appeals this sentence and its consecutive nature as unreasonable.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

A. General Standard of Review

Even after Booker, we review a district court’s interpretation of the Guidelines, de novo. United States v. Duhon, 440 F.3d 711, 714 (5th Cir.2006) (citing United States v. Smith, 440 F.3d 704, 705 (5th Cir.2006)). This court accepts the district court’s findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. Id. (citing United States v. Creech, 408 F.3d 264, 270 n. 2 (5th Cir.2005)).

A sentence is ultimately reviewed for “unreasonableness.” Smith, 440 F.3d at 705; Duhon 440 F.3d at 714. The factors enumerated in 18 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
454 F.3d 468, 2006 WL 1752158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-candia-ca5-2006.