United States v. Carrasco-Cortez ( 2023 )

Case: 22-50841 Document: 00516734246 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/02/2023
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit
____________
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
No. 22-50841
Summary Calendar FILED
____________ May 2, 2023
Lyle W. Cayce
United States of America, Clerk
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Pablo Carrasco-Cortez,
Defendant—Appellant.
______________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 7:22-CR-59-1
______________________________
Before Wiener, Elrod, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam: *
Pablo Carrasco-Cortez pleaded guilty to illegal reentry following
deportation. He was sentenced within the advisory guidelines range to 30
months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. For
the first time on appeal, Carrasco-Cortez argues that the district court
procedurally erred by failing to explain its reasons for imposing supervised
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*
This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50841 Document: 00516734246 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/02/2023
No. 22-50841
release in light of U.S.S.G. § 5D1.1(c), which provides that supervised
release should “ordinarily” not be imposed where, as here, it is not required
by statute and the defendant is a deportable alien who is likely to be deported.
Our review is for plain error. See United States v. Dominguez-Alvarado,
695 F.3d 324, 327 (5th Cir. 2012) (citing United States v. Mondragon–
Santiago, 564 F.3d 357, 361 (5th Cir. 2009)). Carrasco-Cortez’s criminal
history, which includes several convictions for illegal reentry, supports the
imposition of supervised release. See United States v. Cancino-Trinidad, 710
F.3d 601, 606-07 (5th Cir. 2013). 1 Additionally, because Carrasco-Cortez has
failed to show “a reasonable probability that, but for the district court’s
misapplication of the Guidelines, he would have received a lesser sentence,”
any error did not affect his substantial rights. Id. at 606 (internal quotation
marks and citation omitted). Accordingly, he has not shown plain error, and
the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.
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1
We have affirmed supervised release terms for defendants with comparable
criminal histories. See, e.g., United States v. Castro-Delgado, No. 21-50789, 2022 WL
3229981, *1 (5th Cir. Aug. 10, 2022) (per curiam) (unpublished) (noting that the defendant
had two felony convictions for the transportation of illegal aliens and had previously been
deported twice); United States v. Rodriguez-Banda, No. 21-50343, 2022 WL 2752178, *1
(5th Cir. July 13, 2022) (per curiam) (unpublished) (noting that the defendant’s criminal
history, “particularly his repeated illegal reentry offenses” supported a term of supervised
release).
2