United States v. Victor Valdez-Rodriguez ( 2018 )

Case: 17-11048 Document: 00514475598 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/16/2018
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
No. 17-11048 May 16, 2018
Summary Calendar
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
VICTOR VALDEZ-RODRIGUEZ,
Defendant-Appellant
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:17-CR-56-3
Before JOLLY, OWEN, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Victor Valdez-Rodriguez appeals the 87-month within-guidelines
sentence imposed following his conviction for conspiracy to possess with the
intent to distribute cocaine. Valdez-Rodriguez challenges the district court’s
finding on the amount of cocaine for which he was held responsible at
sentencing, asserting that the information contained in the Presentence
Report (PSR) was uncorroborated and unreliable.
* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH
CIR. R. 47.5.4.
Case: 17-11048 Document: 00514475598 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/16/2018
No. 17-11048
We review the district court’s application of the Guidelines de novo and
its factual findings for clear error. See United States v. Trujillo, 502 F.3d 353,
356 (5th Cir. 2007). The district court’s determination of drug quantity for
purposes of sentencing is a factual finding that will be upheld unless it is not
plausible in light of the entire record. United States v. Alaniz, 726 F.3d 586,
618 (5th Cir. 2013).
Valdez-Rodriguez did not present any evidence to contradict the
information in the PSR or to show that the information was unreliable. See
United States v. Harris, 702 F.3d 226, 230 (5th Cir. 2012) (stating that
defendant has the burden of presenting rebuttal evidence demonstrating that
information in the PSR is unreliable). His objection to the drug-quantity
finding was not rebuttal evidence. See Alaniz, 726 F.3d 586, 619 (5th Cir.
2013). Thus, his argument challenging the reliability of the PSR is conclusory
and unsupported. In light of the information contained in the PSR, the
Addendum, and the entire record, the district court’s factual finding regarding
drug quantity was plausible and not clearly erroneous. See Alaniz, 726 F.3d
at 618.
The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
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