Filed: Jan. 09, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: Case: 18-60288 Document: 00514786036 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/08/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals No. 18-60288 Fifth Circuit FILED Summary Calendar January 8, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Clerk Plaintiff-Appellee v. COREY PENRO, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:18-CR-15-1 Before DAVIS, HAYNES, and HO, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: * Corey
Summary: Case: 18-60288 Document: 00514786036 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/08/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals No. 18-60288 Fifth Circuit FILED Summary Calendar January 8, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Clerk Plaintiff-Appellee v. COREY PENRO, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:18-CR-15-1 Before DAVIS, HAYNES, and HO, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: * Corey P..
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Case: 18-60288 Document: 00514786036 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/08/2019
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals
No. 18-60288
Fifth Circuit
FILED
Summary Calendar January 8, 2019
Lyle W. Cayce
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Clerk
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
COREY PENRO,
Defendant-Appellant
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 3:18-CR-15-1
Before DAVIS, HAYNES, and HO, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Corey Penro pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor information charging him
with possession of contraband in prison in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1791(a)(2),
(b)(4). The magistrate judge, presiding with Penro’s consent, see 28 U.S.C.
§ 636(a)(5), sentenced Penro to a within-guidelines sentence of six and a half
months. Penro filed a timely notice of appeal.
* 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH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: 18-60288 Document: 00514786036 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/08/2019
No. 18-60288
Penro argues that his within-guidelines sentence is substantively
unreasonable and inconsistent with the sentencing goals of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
He argues that the magistrate judge should have given significant weight to
the fact that Penro had already been disciplined by the Bureau of Prisons
(BOP) for possessing a cell phone in prison. This court considers the
substantive reasonableness of the sentence imposed under a deferential abuse-
of-discretion standard. Gall v. United States,
552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007).
Here, the magistrate judge heard defense counsel’s mitigation argument
regarding the disciplinary measures already taken by the BOP in response to
Penro’s possession of contraband. The magistrate judge explained that a
sentence of eight months, which was at the top of the guidelines range, was
still warranted, despite any punishment that the BOP imposed, given Penro’s
“significant prior criminal history” and the seriousness of “having contraband
in [] prison” and the need to deter such conduct. He then agreed to reduce its
sentence to six and a half months to give Penro credit for the time he spent in
the county jail awaiting disposition of his case. Penro’s argument that his
sentence is unreasonable represents a mere disagreement with his sentence
and the magistrate judge’s balancing of the § 3553(a) factors, which is
insufficient to rebut the presumption of reasonableness that attaches to a
within-guidelines sentence. See United States v. Ruiz,
621 F.3d 390, 398 (5th
Cir. 2010).
The judgment is AFFIRMED.
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