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UNITED STATES v. MURILLO CAMACHO (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-04-26No. No. 20-50262

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the 24-month sentence, finding it substantively reasonable under federal sentencing law despite being above the applicable Guidelines range, given the defendant's prior sentences for immigration offenses and other relevant sentencing factors.

Jose Antonio Murillo-Camacho pleaded guilty to unlawful attempted entry by an alien and received a 24-month sentence. He appealed, arguing the district court improperly compared his case to illegal reentry cases and relied on an invalid prior removal order when calculating his sentence. The appellate court rejected both arguments, finding that the district court's reference to illegal reentry cases was merely contextual discussion about charging decisions rather than a sentencing error, and that the court properly applied statutory sentencing factors based on Murillo-Camacho's substantial prior immigration and criminal history.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether comparing defendant to illegal reentry cases constituted sentencing error
  • Whether district court relied on clearly erroneous facts regarding prior removal order validity
  • Whether above-Guidelines sentence was substantively reasonable given defendant's criminal history

Procedural posture

Murillo-Camacho appealed his guilty-plea conviction and 24-month sentence for unlawful attempted entry by an alien to the appellate court.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Jose Antonio Murillo-Camacho appeals from the district courts judgment and challenges the 24-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for unlawful attempted entry by an alien, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

Murillo-Camacho first contends that the district court erred by comparing him to defendants convicted of illegal reentry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 when determining his sentence. However, the district courts reference to another defendants § 1326 proceeding was made in the context of a discussion regarding the governments decision not to charge Murillo-Camacho with illegal reentry. Further, the district court properly considered Murillo-Camachos prior sentences for immigration offenses. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(a)(1), (a)(2)(B).

Murillo-Camacho next contends that the district court relied on clearly erroneous facts by assuming that Murillo-Camachos prior removal order was valid and thereby implicitly applying a 10-level enhancement to his base offense level. He maintains that, at a minimum, remand is warranted for the district court to clarify that it did not base the sentence on an incorrect Guidelines range. The record makes clear, however, that the district court knew the applicable Guidelines range. It nevertheless determined that an above-Guidelines sentence was warranted in light of Murillo-Camachos immigration and criminal history, which included prior sentences of 46 and 57 months for immigration offenses. In light of these circumstances, and the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors, the sentence is substantively reasonable. See United States v. Burgos-Ortega, 777 F.3d 1047, 1056-57 (9th Cir. 2015).

AFFIRMED.