United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit

FILED
United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit
May 31, 2013

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
No. 12-1464
RAMIRO PEREZ-RAMOS,
(D.C. No. 1:12-CR-00277-PAB-1)

(D. Colo.)
Defendant-Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before ANDERSON and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges, and BRORBY, Senior

Circuit Judge. **
In August 2009, Defendant Ramiro Perez-Ramos pled guilty to illegal reentry

of a removed alien into the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326(a) in the
United States District Court for the District of Arizona. That court sentenced him
to three years of supervised release, with the standard condition that he not commit
any federal, state, or local crimes, and the special condition that he not reenter the
United States without authorization if deported. The three-year term of supervised
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent except under the doctrines
of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however,
for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
**
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this
appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34(1)(G). The case is therefore
ordered submitted without oral argument.
release began on November 12, 2009.
Shortly after that, he was deported on
November 16, 2009.

Before Defendants term of supervised release expired, police arrested him for
drunk driving in Colorado on April 15, 2012. The Government charged Defendant
with illegal reentry and sought to revoke his supervised release. Defendant pled
guilty to the illegal reentry offense, and the district court sentenced him to 15
months imprisonment, a within-Guidelines sentence. At the same hearing as the
sentencing, the district court revoked Defendants supervised release. Defendant
admitted two violations of the conditions of his supervised release: (1) driving under
the influence of alcohol, and (2) illegal reentry. The advisory Guideline range for
the supervised release violation was 814 months.
Both the Government and
Defendant recommended an eight-month sentence. Defendant asked the court to take

into consideration his earlier allocution and impose the eight-month sentence
concurrently with his sentence for illegal reentry. The Government recommended
a consecutive sentence.
The district court rejected Defendants request for a
concurrent sentence and imposed an eight-month sentence consecutive to the illegal

reentry sentence. Defendant appealed. Exercising our jurisdiction pursuant to 18
U.S.C. 3742, we affirm.
I.
On appeal, Defendant does not challenge the length of his eight-month
sentence for violating his supervised release. Rather, Defendant argues the district
2
courts decision to run the sentence consecutively rendered it substantively

unreasonable. District courts have the discretion to impose either a concurrent or
consecutive sentence. 18 U.S.C. 3584(a). When deciding whether to impose a
consecutive sentence, the district court shall consider, as to each offense for which
a term of imprisonment is being imposed, the factors set forth in [18 U.S.C.]
3553(a). Id. 3584(b). We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence
for abuse of discretion and give substantial deference to district courts. United
States v. Cornelius, 696 F.3d 1307, 1326 (10th Cir. 2012). A sentencing court does
not abuse its discretion unless the sentence is arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or
manifestly unreasonable. United States v. Munoz-Nava, 524 F.3d 1137, 1146 (10th
Cir. 2008).
When a sentence is within the Guideline range, it is entitled to a presumption
of reasonableness. United States v. Regan, 627 F.3d 1348, 1352 (10th Cir. 2010).
The Guidelines provide, Any term of imprisonment upon the revocation of . . .
supervised release shall be ordered to be served consecutively to any sentence of
imprisonment that the defendant is serving, whether or not the sentence of
imprisonment being served resulted from the conduct that is the basis of the
revocation of . . . supervised release. U.S.S.G. 7B1.3(f). Thus, a consecutive
sentence for a supervised release violation is presumptively reasonable. The burden
is on Defendant to rebut the presumption. United States v. McBride, 633 F.3d 1229,
1233 (10th Cir. 2011). A sentence is substantively reasonable when the length of the
3
sentence reflects the gravity of the crime and the statutory sentencing factors as
applied to the case. United States v. Martinez-Barragan, 545 F.3d 894, 898 (10th
Cir. 2008). As long as the district court considers the factors set forth in 3553(a),
sentencing a defendant to consecutive sentences following the revocation of
supervised release [is] not unreasonable. United States v. Rodriguez-Quintanilla,
442 F.3d 1254, 1257 (10th Cir. 2006).
II.
Defendant argues the district court abused its discretion in several ways. First,
he says the court placed no weight on the circumstances of his illegal reentry, his
deep remorse, his family circumstances, and his efforts to seek treatment for
substance abuse while in custody. Although the Guidelines discourage courts from
considering family ties and responsibilities in sentencing decisions, see U.S.S.G.
5H1.6, a court may consider those responsibilities when fashioning a variance.
United States v. Andrews, 447 F.3d 806, 812 (10th Cir. 2006). True, the district
court did not individually consider each factor in 3553(a). But, the district court
is not required to consider each factor individually, and need not recite any magic
words to show that it has fulfilled its responsibility to be mindful of factors that
Congress has instructed it to consider. United States v. Contreras-Martinez, 409
F.3d 1236, 1242 (10th Cir. 2005). Thus, when imposing a sentence, a district court
need only consider 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) en masse . . . . United States v. Rose, 185
F.3d 1108, 1111 (10th Cir. 1999). The district court expressly stated it considered
4
the factors listed in 3553(a), which include the nature and circumstances of the
offense, and the history and characteristics of the defendant. 1
18 U.S.C.
3553(a)(1). Therefore, although the court did not articulate every potentially
relevant factor, it did not abuse its discretion.
Defendant next argues the district court incorrectly imposed a consecutive
sentence in order to ensure an effect on Defendant for violating his supervised
release. When sentencing, the court should consider the needs for just punishment,
to afford adequate deterrence, to promote respect for the law, and to protect the
public from further crimes by defendant. Id. 3553(a)(2). The district court could
conclude that Defendant needed to serve additional time on his supervised release
violation to meet these goals. Further, Defendants violation of a condition of
supervised release is a breach of trust, and while the sentencing court at revocation
takes into account the seriousness of the underlying crime, it is primarily the breach
of trust that is sanction. Contreras-Martinez, 409 F.3d at 1241. The sentence
imposed upon revocation is intended to sanction the violator for failing to abide by
the conditions of the court-ordered supervision. U.S.S.G. ch. 7, pt. A, introductory
cmt. (2012). The district court did not abuse its discretion in deciding that a
consecutive sentence was appropriate to properly punish Defendant for both the
Defendant also argues United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), requires
the district court to look to a defendants full background at sentencing, and that the
district court failed to do so. However, the district court expressly took into
consideration 3553(a) factors, which include the history of the defendant.
5
illegal reentry and the violation of his supervised release.

Defendant also argues the district court should have considered that the
Guidelines now discourage the imposition of supervised release when the defendant
will be deported after imprisonment. See U.S.S.G. 5D1.1(c). The Guidelines had
not been amended to include that provision, however, at the time Defendant was
placed on supervised release. Additionally, the Guidelines still recommend that the
court consider a term of supervised release if it would provide an added measure of
deterrence and protection based on the facts and circumstances of a particular case.
See U.S.S.G. 5D1.1 cmt. n. 5 (2012). Defendants 2009 term of supervised release
was valid and binding, and the district court was acting well within its discretion
when it chose to sanction Defendants violation of that release. See United States
v. Gutierrez-Sierra, 2013 WL 1136949 at *3 (10th Cir. March 20, 2013). In a recent,
unpublished opinion, we held the district court did not abuse its discretion when it
ordered the defendant to serve his sentence for illegal reentry and his sentence for
violation of supervised release consecutively. Id. We rejected the defendants
argument, identical to Defendants here, that a consecutive sentence was improper
in light of the recent amendment to 5D1.1(c). Id. Of course, this amendment, like
all Guideline provisions, is advisory and the district court can choose to impose
consecutive sentences at its discretion.
Having determined that the district court properly considered the factors it was
bound to review, we have no difficulty in determining the district court did not abuse
6
its discretion by imposing a consecutive sentence.

For the reasons stated above, Defendants sentence is AFFIRMED.
Entered for the Court,
Bobby R. Baldock
United States Circuit Judge

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit

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FILED

United States Court of Appeals

May 31, 2013

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

(D.C. No. 1:12-CR-00277-PAB-1)

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

Before ANDERSON and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges, and BRORBY, Senior

In August 2009, Defendant Ramiro Perez-Ramos pled guilty to illegal reentry

release began on November 12, 2009.

Shortly after that, he was deported on

November 16, 2009.

Both the Government and

Defendant recommended an eight-month sentence. Defendant asked the court to take

The district court rejected Defendants request for a

concurrent sentence and imposed an eight-month sentence consecutive to the illegal

courts decision to run the sentence consecutively rendered it substantively

illegal reentry and the violation of his supervised release.

its discretion by imposing a consecutive sentence.

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