United States v. Solorio-Menera

1 The Honorable Joseph F. Bataillon, United States District Judge for the
District of Nebraska.
United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
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No. 03-2107
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United States of America, *
*
Appellee, *
* Appeal from the United States
v. * District Court for the
* District of Nebraska.
Eduardo Lara-Valadez, *
* [UNPUBLISHED]
Appellant. *
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Submitted: February 5, 2004
Filed: March 16, 2004
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Before BYE, McMILLIAN, and RILEY, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Eduardo Lara-Valadez (Lara-Valadez) pled guilty to conspiring to distribute
500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine, in violation of 21
U.S.C. § 846. The district court 1 sentenced him to 121 months in prison and 5 years
supervised release. For the first time on appeal, Lara-Valadez argues that the
Sentencing Guidelines for methamphetamine offenses are unconstitutionally severe,
and that the district court should have departed downward based on his age and
background.

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We reject both arguments. See United States v. Montanye, 996 F.2d 190, 192
(8th Cir. 1993) (en banc) (plain-error standard of review for issues not raised below).
First, the constitutional argument is conclusory and unsupported. See United States
v. Frieberger, 28 F.3d 916, 920-21 (8th Cir. 1994) (defendant who challenges
constitutionality of methamphetamine Guidelines must demonstrate that Guidelines
were based on forbidden or suspect ground or that they do not survive rational-basis
review), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1097 (1995). Second, Lara-Valadez did not request
a departure below, and the district court was not required to grant one sua sponte.
Accordingly, we affirm.
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