Filed: Mar. 04, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-4692 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. GASPAR LOPEZ-DIAZ, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Greenville. Henry M. Herlong, Jr., Senior District Judge. (6:14-cr-00204-HMH-1) Submitted: February 9, 2015 Decided: March 4, 2015 Before NIEMEYER, KING, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Benjamin T. Stepp,
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-4692 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. GASPAR LOPEZ-DIAZ, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Greenville. Henry M. Herlong, Jr., Senior District Judge. (6:14-cr-00204-HMH-1) Submitted: February 9, 2015 Decided: March 4, 2015 Before NIEMEYER, KING, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Benjamin T. Stepp, A..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-4692
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
GASPAR LOPEZ-DIAZ,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Greenville. Henry M. Herlong, Jr., Senior
District Judge. (6:14-cr-00204-HMH-1)
Submitted: February 9, 2015 Decided: March 4, 2015
Before NIEMEYER, KING, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Benjamin T. Stepp, Assistant Federal Public Defender,
Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellant. William N. Nettles,
United States Attorney, Carrie Fisher Sherard, Assistant United
States Attorney, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Gaspar Lopez-Diaz pleaded guilty to illegally
reentering the United States after having been removed following
a felony conviction, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1),
(b)(1) (2012). The district court sentenced Lopez-Diaz to
eighteen months of imprisonment and he now appeals. For the
reasons that follow, we affirm.
Gaspar-Lopez argues on appeal that the district court
failed to adequately explain the sentence. In sentencing a
defendant, a district court must conduct an “individualized
assessment” of the particular facts of every sentence, whether
the court imposes a sentence above, below, or within the
Guidelines range. United States v. Carter,
564 F.3d 325, 330
(4th Cir. 2009). In addition, “[w]here [a party] presents
nonfrivolous reasons for imposing a different sentence than that
set forth in the advisory Guidelines, a district judge should
address the party’s arguments and explain why he has rejected
those arguments.”
Id. at 328 (internal quotation marks
omitted).
Our review of this issue is for plain error, as
Lopez-Diaz did not request a sentence other than that which he
received. See United States v. Lynn,
592 F.3d 572, 578 (4th
Cir. 2010). “To establish plain error, [a defendant] must show
that an error occurred, that the error was plain, and that the
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error affected his substantial rights.” United States v.
Muhammad,
478 F.3d 247, 249 (4th Cir. 2007). Even if Lopez-Diaz
satisfies these requirements, “correction of the error remains
within our discretion, which we should not exercise unless the
error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public
reputation of judicial proceedings.”
Id. (internal quotation
marks and alterations omitted).
In the sentencing context, an error affects
substantial rights if the defendant can show that the sentence
imposed “was longer than that to which he would otherwise be
subject.” United States v. Washington,
404 F.3d 834, 849 (4th
Cir. 2005) (internal quotation marks omitted). We have
thoroughly reviewed the record and the relevant legal
authorities and conclude that Lopez-Diaz has failed to
demonstrate that the district court committed plain error in
sentencing him to the low end of the advisory Guidelines range.
See United States v. Hernandez,
603 F.3d 267, 272 (4th Cir.
2010).
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district
court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
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before this court and argument would not aid in the decisional
process.
AFFIRMED
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