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 2013-03

United States v. Alberto Valenzuela-Cueves ( 2013 )


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  •                               UNPUBLISHED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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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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