United States v. Martinez-Garcia

FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
April 2, 2010
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee, No. 09-4102
v. (D. Utah)
JUAN CARLOS MARTINEZ- (D.C. No. 2:08-CR-00002-TC-1)
GARCIA,
Defendant - Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before HARTZ, SEYMOUR, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
Defendant Juan Carlos Martinez-Garcia, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty
in the United States District Court for the District of Utah to two counts of illegal
firearms possession and one count of drug possession with intent to distribute.
He was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. Mr. Martinez-Gonzales
challenges his sentence (1) as substantively unreasonable because it did not
*
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. 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not binding precedent except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata,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.
reflect mitigating facts and (2) as procedurally unreasonable because the district
court (a) did not respond to certain of his arguments at sentencing, and (b)
improperly applied the offense-level enhancement under the United States
Sentencing Guidelines for possession of a firearm “in connection with” another
felony. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
On multiple occasions Mr. Martinez-Garcia sold firearms and drugs to
undercover federal agents. The first sale occurred on August 18, 2007. Two days
earlier Mr. Martinez-Garcia had discussed selling crack cocaine to the agent.
When they met, Mr. Martinez-Garcia showed the agent a pistol he wanted to sell.
They haggled over the price, eventually agreeing on $400. After receiving the
gun, the agent said that he wanted to buy an “eightball” of methamphetamine and
Mr. Martinez-Garcia set the price at $180. R., Vol. 3 at 6 (internal quotation
marks omitted). The agent then gave Mr. Martinez-Garcia $580 in cash for the
gun and the drugs (which weighed 2.7 grams).
The second encounter was similar. On August 20 another undercover agent
arranged to meet Mr. Martinez-Garcia the next day to purchase narcotics and
possibly a firearm. When the two met, Mr. Martinez-Garcia took a gun from his
waistband and told the agent that he would sell it for $400; the agent agreed to
purchase it. The agent next agreed to purchase about 29 grams of powder cocaine
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for $700. The agent then paid Mr. Martinez-Garcia $1100 in cash for the gun and
the drugs.
The third sale to an undercover agent was a month later, on September 19.
Mr. Martinez-Garcia sold a sawed-off shotgun and two rifles to the agent.
Immediately after the sale, Mr. Martinez-Garcia was charged with illegal reentry
of a previously removed alien. He pleaded guilty to that charge under fast-track
procedures and received a sentence of 24 months’ imprisonment on December 17,
2007.
Soon thereafter, on January 3, 2008, Mr. Martinez-Garcia was indicted on
seven counts of firearm and drug offenses. In exchange for dismissal of the
remaining counts, he agreed to plead guilty to three counts: (1) possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon during his first interaction with an undercover agent,
see 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1); (2) possession of cocaine with intent to distribute
during his second interaction with an undercover agent, see 21 U.S.C.
§ 841(a)(1); and (3) possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun during his
third interaction with an undercover agent, see 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d).
The presentence report (PSR) prepared by the probation office calculated
Mr. Martinez-Garcia’s total offense level under the sentencing guidelines to be
29, and his criminal-history category to be V, yielding an advisory guidelines
sentencing range of 140 to 175 months’ imprisonment. See USSG Ch. 5, pt. A.
Included in the PSR’s offense-level calculation was a four-level enhancement
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under USSG § 2K2.1(b)(6) for the use or possession of a firearm in connection
with Mr. Martinez-Garcia’s drug sales to the undercover agents.
The district court agreed with the PSR’s recommendations and found the
advisory guidelines range to be 140 to 175 months’ imprisonment. Noting that
this would subject Mr. Martinez-Garcia to a longer sentence than received by
others who were similarly situated, the court departed downward and sentenced
him to 120 months.
II. DISCUSSION
On appeal Mr. Martinez-Garcia argues that his sentence is both
substantively and procedurally unreasonable. We address first the substantive
reasonableness of his sentence.
A. Substantive Reasonableness
Had Mr. Martinez-Garcia been sentenced within the advisory guidelines
range of 140 to 175 months’ imprisonment, the sentence would be presumptively
reasonable. See United States v. Kristl, 437 F.3d 1050, 1054 (10th Cir. 2006).
That is, we would presume that the sentence was neither unreasonably harsh nor
unreasonably lenient. The presumption against unreasonable harshness is only
strengthened by the district court’s downward departure.
Attempting to overcome this presumption, Mr. Martinez-Garcia argues that
his sentence was excessive because the district court failed to take account of the
prejudice to him resulting from the prosecution of his illegal-reentry offense
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separate from and earlier than the charges in this case. He posits that (1) his
conviction of illegal reentry increased his criminal history above what it would
have been if that offense had been prosecuted with his firearm and drug offenses,
and (2) he could not benefit from consecutive sentences on all his convictions,
because he had almost completed his unlawful-reentry sentence when he was
sentenced in this case.
But Mr. Martinez-Garcia’s 120-month sentence was eminently reasonable
for his offenses in light of his criminal history (even disregarding his 2007
illegal-reentry conviction). Between July 2004 and February 2006 he had been
convicted after four separate arrests of driving under the influence, burglary,
theft, illegal possession of heroin, possession of a dangerous weapon, attempted
false evidence of title, and illegal reentry of a previously removed alien.
Mr. Martinez-Garcia has not overcome the presumption that his 120-month
sentence was reasonable.
B. Procedural Reasonableness
1. Calculation of Offense Level
Mr. Martinez-Garcia first contends that his sentence is procedurally
unreasonable because his offense level under the sentencing guidelines was
improperly increased by four levels under USSG 2K2.1(b)(6). Under that
provision, a four-level enhancement is appropriate “[i]f the defendant used or
possessed any firearm or ammunition in connection with another felony offense;
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or possessed or transferred any firearm or ammunition with knowledge, intent, or
reason to believe that it would be used or possessed in connection with another
felony offense.” USSG § 2K2.1(b)(6). Two application notes clarify the
provision. The first states that the provision applies “if the firearm or
ammunition facilitated, or had the potential of facilitating, another felony
offense.” Id., cmt. 14(A). The second states that the provision applies “in the
case of a drug trafficking offense in which a firearm is found in close proximity
to drugs, drug-manufacturing materials, or drug paraphernalia.” Id., cmt.
14(B)(ii). “Commentary that explains a guideline ‘is authoritative unless it
violates the Constitution or a federal statute, or is inconsistent with or a plainly
erroneous reading of, that guideline.’” United States v. McClatchey, 316 F.3d
1122, 1127 (10th Cir. 2003) (quoting Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36, 38
(1993)).
Mr. Martinez-Garcia twice possessed firearms during meetings with
undercover agents in which he sold them drugs. He argues, however, that because
he had sold and handed over the guns to the undercover agents before he sold
them drugs, the enhancement should not apply. But these firearms were in close
proximity to the drugs that he sold, so Application Note 14(B) clearly requires the
four-level enhancement.
Moreover, even on its own terms, his argument is flawed. The gun sales
were not isolated transactions divorced from the drug sales. Before each of the
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first two transactions, the undercover agent had spoken with Mr. Martinez-Garcia
to arrange a drug purchase. Before the first meeting there was not even the
mention of a possible gun purchase. Although the agents and Mr. Martinez-
Garcia agreed on the gun prices before the drugs were exchanged, the agents did
not pay for the guns until the drugs were also handed over, paying for both
simultaneously. Thus, Mr. Martinez-Garcia possessed the guns during the course
of the negotiations for the drugs; and he constructively possessed the guns until
he was paid for them (at the same time that he was paid for the drugs). See
United States v. Avery, 295 F.3d 1158, 1177 (10th Cir. 2002) (explaining that
constructive possession “exists when a person knowingly has ownership . . . over
the particular object” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
2. Failure to Address Defendant’s Arguments
Finally, Mr. Martinez-Garcia argues that his sentence was procedurally
unreasonable because the district court failed to consider and explain its rejection
of his “principal arguments” for a shorter sentence. Aplt. Br. at 14. Because he
did not raise this objection at sentencing, we review only for plain error. See
United States v. Poe, 556 F.3d 1113, 1128 (10th Cir. 2009). “In order to prevail
on plain-error review, a party must show there is (1) error, (2) that is plain, (3)
which affects the party’s substantial rights, and (4) which seriously affects the
fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id. (brackets and
internal quotation marks omitted).
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Mr. Martinez-Garcia’s opening brief fails to identify any “principal
argument” not considered by the district court. He clarifies in his reply brief that
those arguments were that “the applicable guideline range should have been
reduced and the sentence run concurrent based on the prior sentence in the reentry
case.” Reply Br. at 7. But this clarification is untimely. “An appellant cannot
hold his specific complaint in reserve until it is too late for the appellee to
respond.” United States v. Lewis, 594 F.3d 1270, 1285 (10th Cir. 2010).
Regardless, the court responded to the request for a concurrent sentence,
explaining that it was not appropriate in light of the downward departure it had
granted him. And to the extent that Mr. Martinez-Garcia complains that the court
did not address his argument for an even greater departure, it was sufficient for
the court to grant his request in part and explain why it imposed the sentence it
did. A district court has no obligation to explain why it did not sentence a
defendant differently. See United States v. Jarrillo-Luna, 478 F.3d 1226, 1230
(10th Cir. 2007). Because the district court committed no error, there was no
plain error.
III. CONCLUSION
The district court’s sentence is AFFIRMED.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Harris L Hartz
Circuit Judge
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