United States of America v. Victor Garcia-Garcia

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
VICTOR GARCIA-GARCIA,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 13-50062
D.C. No. 3:10-cr-01798-JLS
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Janis L. Sammartino, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted May 13, 2014**
Before: CLIFTON, BEA, and WATFORD, Circuit Judges.
Victor Garcia-Garcia appeals from the district court’s judgment and
challenges the 72-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for
being a deported alien found in the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
FILED
MAY 27 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

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Garcia-Garcia contends that the district court erred in applying a 16-level
enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(i) because the documents used to
prove that he suffered a 1998 conviction for possession or purchase of a controlled
substance for sale, in violation of section 11351 of the California Health and Safety
Code, were not sufficiently reliable to establish that he was the person who
suffered that conviction. Notwithstanding the minor inconsistency between the
charging document for Garcia-Garcia’s prior offense and his rap sheet, the district
court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that the fingerprint-verified rap
sheet was sufficiently reliable to show that Garcia-Garcia was convicted of the
1998 offense. See United States v. Alvarado-Martinez, 556 F.3d 732, 735 (9th Cir.
2009) (per curiam).
Garcia-Garcia also contends that his sentence is substantively unreasonable
because it is greater than necessary in light of his personal characteristics and the
mitigating arguments he raised at the sentencing hearing. The district court did not
abuse its discretion in imposing Garcia-Garcia’s sentence. See Gall v. United
States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). The sentence is substantively reasonable in light of
the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors and the totality of the circumstances.
See id.
AFFIRMED.
13-50062 2

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