Filed: Apr. 28, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-4756 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. FELIX JOEL LUNA CABAN, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. John A. Gibney, Jr., District Judge. (3:15-cr-00168-JAG-1) Submitted: April 21, 2016 Decided: April 28, 2016 Before WILKINSON, SHEDD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Geremy C. Kamens, Acti
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-4756 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. FELIX JOEL LUNA CABAN, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. John A. Gibney, Jr., District Judge. (3:15-cr-00168-JAG-1) Submitted: April 21, 2016 Decided: April 28, 2016 Before WILKINSON, SHEDD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Geremy C. Kamens, Actin..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-4756
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
FELIX JOEL LUNA CABAN,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond. John A. Gibney, Jr.,
District Judge. (3:15-cr-00168-JAG-1)
Submitted: April 21, 2016 Decided: April 28, 2016
Before WILKINSON, SHEDD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Geremy C. Kamens, Acting Federal Public Defender, Mary E.
Maguire, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Nicholas J. Xenakis,
Research & Writing Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for
Appellant. Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney, Stephen C.
Dimpsey, Special Assistant United States Attorney, Richmond,
Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Felix Joel Luna Caban was convicted by a magistrate judge
of violating his probation and sentenced to 10 months’
imprisonment. Luna Caban appealed to the district court, which
affirmed. He now appeals to this court, arguing that the
sentence imposed by the magistrate judge was plainly
unreasonable. We affirm.
We review a sentence imposed upon revocation of probation
to determine whether it is “plainly unreasonable.” United
States v. Moulden,
478 F.3d 652, 656 (4th Cir. 2007). We first
determine whether the sentence is unreasonable, “follow[ing]
generally the procedural and substantive considerations that we
employ in our review of original sentences.” United States v.
Crudup,
461 F.3d 433, 438 (4th Cir. 2006). In reviewing a
revocation sentence, we apply “a more ‘deferential appellate
posture concerning issues of fact and the exercise of
discretion’ than reasonableness review for guidelines
sentences.”
Moulden, 478 F.3d at 656 (quoting
Crudup, 461 F.3d
at 439). Only if we find a revocation sentence unreasonable
must we determine whether it is “plainly” so.
Crudup, 461 F.3d
at 439.
A revocation sentence is procedurally reasonable if the
court considered the policy statements in Chapter Seven of the
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual and the applicable 18 U.S.C.
2
§ 3553(a) (2012) factors.
Moulden, 478 F.3d at 656; see
18 U.S.C. § 3565 (2012). The court must provide an adequate
statement of reasons for the revocation sentence it imposes, but
this statement need not be as specific or as detailed as that
required in imposing an original sentence. United States v.
Thompson,
595 F.3d 544, 547 (4th Cir. 2010). A revocation
sentence is substantively reasonable if the court stated a
proper basis for concluding that the defendant should receive
the sentence imposed.
Crudup, 461 F.3d at 440. The sentence
must be “sufficient, but not greater than necessary” to satisfy
the goals of sentencing. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). However,
“the sentencing court retains broad discretion to revoke a
defendant’s probation and impose a term of imprisonment up to
the statutory maximum.”
Moulden, 478 F.3d at 657.
On appeal, Luna Caban primarily argues that the magistrate
judge procedurally erred in failing to adequately address
defense counsel’s arguments when articulating the reasons for
Luna Caban’s sentence. However, we conclude the magistrate
judge’s statement of reasons was adequate to “provide some
indication” that it “considered the potentially meritorious
arguments raised by both parties about sentencing.” United
States v. Montes-Pineda,
445 F.3d 375, 380 (4th Cir. 2006); cf.
United States v. Cunningham,
429 F.3d 673, 679 (7th Cir. 2005)
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(discussing court’s failure to address defendant’s arguments
regarding his severe psychiatric illness and substance abuse).
The magistrate judge implicitly rejected Luna Caban’s
argument that extenuating circumstances justified or mitigated
his violations in observing his longstanding pattern of
violating court orders. The magistrate judge explicitly stated
that he found no basis for the downward variance requested by
defense counsel and addressed each of the relevant § 3553(a)
factors. While the court placed heavy emphasis on Luna Caban’s
repeated noncompliance, a sentencing court is permitted to place
significant weight on a single factor if, as here, it is
justified by the record as a whole. See United States v.
Pauley,
511 F.3d 468, 476 (4th Cir. 2007).
Luna Caban faults the magistrate judge for not
acknowledging Luna Caban’s financial obligations or that his
incarceration would compound these financial challenges by
preventing his return to work. However, the magistrate judge
specifically noted that he had originally imposed a “generous”
sentence precisely to permit Luna Caban to make continued
payments, yet Luna Caban had failed to comply with the
requirements of his release. See
Montes-Pineda, 445 F.3d at 381
(addressing importance of viewing statement of reasons in
context). On the whole, we conclude the magistrate judge’s
explanation, which was both tailored to the specific
4
circumstances of Luna Caban’s case and grounded in the § 3553(a)
factors, adequately demonstrated that he “considered the
parties’ arguments and ha[d] a reasoned basis for exercising
[his] own decisionmaking authority” in rejecting Luna Caban’s
request for a variance. See United States v. Allmedinger,
706
F.3d 330, 343 (4th Cir. 2013) (internal quotation marks
omitted).
Finally, Luna Caban argues that his sentence, which was two
months below the statutory maximum, was substantively
unreasonable because it was greater than necessary to satisfy
the § 3553(a) factors. Our review of the record leads us to
conclude that the court acted well within its broad discretion
in sentencing Luna Caban to the middle of his policy statement
range.
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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