United States v. Rafael Paredes

520 F. App'x 129
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedApril 15, 2013
Docket12-2032, 12-2033
StatusUnpublished

This text of 520 F. App'x 129 (United States v. Rafael Paredes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Rafael Paredes, 520 F. App'x 129 (3d Cir. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

FUENTES,. Circuit Judge:

In this appeal, we are asked to consider whether the District Court erred in sentencing Rafael Paredes. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm.

I.

Because we write primarily for the parties, we set forth only the facts and procedural history relevant to our conclusion.

In July 2010, Paredes was charged with conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, among other charges. He pleaded guilty to those two drug charges in September 2010 and was released on bail. In the plea agreement, the parties agreed to a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility and that the Government would request a section 5K1.1 departure if Paredes cooperated. The Government had requested Paredes’s release in order for him to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Paredes was ordered to abide by certain conditions for his release. However, in November 2010, after Paredes violated these conditions by failing to return home by his scheduled curfew or return phone calls, the District Court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Paredes also failed to appear for his November 29, 2010 sentencing. In March 2011, Paredes was charged in a second indictment with one count of failure to appear, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3146, based on his failure to appear for his sentencing hearing.

*131 In the summer of 2011, after learning that Paredes had traveled to the Dominican Republic, a DEA agent contacted him to request that he turn himself in. Pa-redes responded that he would only do so with a guarantee of no incarceration, which the DEA agent refused to provide. In October 2011, Paredes was discovered in New York and was arrested and transported to Pennsylvania.

Paredes subsequently pleaded guilty to the failure to appear charge and in April 2012, was sentenced for both the drug charges and the failure to appear charge. In calculating Paredes’s Guideline range, the District Court grouped the drug counts with the failure to appear count and added a two-level obstruction enhancement. It denied Paredes’s request for a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility but granted a two-level safety valve reduction because Paredes provided truthful information. With a total offense level of 26 and criminal history category I, Paredes’s advisory Guideline range was 63 to 78 months’ imprisonment. The District Court sentenced Paredes to 66 months’ imprisonment. Paredes timely appealed.

II.

A.

The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 3231 and 3583(e). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742. In considering Paredes’s challenge to the District Court’s interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines, we exercise plenary review over questions of law. United States v. Doe, 564 F.3d 305, 307 n. 2 (3d Cir.2009); United States v. Mateo, 560 F.3d 152, 154 (3d Cir.2009). Furthermore, we exercise plain error review of arguments that Pa-redes failed to raise before the District Court. United States v. Wood, 486 F.3d 781, 790 (3d Cir.2007).

When evaluating the reasonableness of a sentence, our first step is to determine whether the District Court committed a significant procedural error, “such as failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as mandatory, failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence — including an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range.” United States v. Tomko, 562 F.3d 558, 567 (3d Cir.2009) (en banc) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). If the District Court’s procedure is satisfactory, then at the second step, we must consider the sentence’s substantive reasonableness, requiring us “not to focus on one or two factors, but on the totality of the circumstances.” Id. “The touchstone of ‘reasonableness’ is whether the record as a whole reflects rational and meaningful consideration of the factors enumerated in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).” United States v. Grier, 475 F.3d 556, 571 (3d Cir.2007). Paredes, as the party challenging the sentence, has the burden of demonstrating unreasonableness. See Tomko, 562 F.3d at 567.

We review both inquiries for abuse of discretion. United States v. Doe, 617 F.3d 766, 769 (3d Cir.2010). “[I]f the district court’s sentence is procedurally sound, we will affirm it unless no reasonable sentencing court would have imposed the same sentence on that particular defendant for the reasons the district court provided.” Tomko, 562 F.3d at 568. We will also give “due deference” to the District Court’s evaluation of the § 3553(a) factors because “[t]he sentencing judge has access to, and greater familiarity with, the individual case and the individual defendant before him.” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51-52, *132 128 S.Ct. 586, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

B.

On appeal, Paredes argues that the District Court erred in applying the two-level enhancement for obstruction of justice and in denying the three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. He also argues that the District Court failed to consider the § 3558(a) factors and that his sentence is substantively unreasonable. Having reviewed the parties’ briefs, the record, and the District Court’s reasons for sentencing Paredes to a 66-month sentence, we conclude that Paredes’s sentence is both proeedurally and substantively reasonable.

Paredes challenges the District Court’s application of the obstruction of justice enhancement, arguing that it was a constituent part of his failure to appear offense. We review this challenge for plain error. The District Court grouped the drug counts with the failure to appear count and added the two-level obstruction enhancement, which is proper under section 3C1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines.

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Related

Rita v. United States
551 U.S. 338 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Gall v. United States
552 U.S. 38 (Supreme Court, 2007)
United States v. Doe
617 F.3d 766 (Third Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Andre Paul Clark, A/K/A Paul Green
316 F.3d 210 (Third Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Sean Michael Grier
475 F.3d 556 (Third Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Shaheed Wood
486 F.3d 781 (Third Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Doe
564 F.3d 305 (Third Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Mateo
560 F.3d 152 (Third Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Tomko
562 F.3d 558 (Third Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Charles
467 F.3d 828 (Third Circuit, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
520 F. App'x 129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rafael-paredes-ca3-2013.