USA v. Seal Lucas, (5th Cir. 2011)

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Case: 11-20057 Document: 00511695046 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/14/2011

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

December 14, 2011

No. 11-20057

Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

SEAL TIEL GARCIA LUCAS,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeals from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Texas

USDC No. 4:10-CR-603-1

Before JONES, Chief Judge, and HAYNES and GRAVES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:* Seal Tiel Garcia Lucas appeals the 28-month below-guidelines sentence imposed following his guilty plea to illegal reentry following deportation after having been convicted of an aggravated felony, in violation of 8U.S.C. § 1326. Garcia Lucas argues that his sentence is greater than necessary to meet the sentencing goals of 18U.S.C. § 3553(a). He contends that the guidelines sentencing range was too severe because U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2 is not empirically based and resulted in the double counting of his prior conviction for a drug * 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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: 11-20057 Document: 00511695046 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/14/2011 trafficking offense. He also argues that the sentence imposed did not accurately reflect the seriousness of his offense and failed to account for his motive for reentering.

Garcia Lucas’s empirical data argument is foreclosed by this court’s precedent. See United States v. Duarte, 569 F.3d 528, 529-31 (5th Cir. 2009); United States v. Mondragon-Santiago, 564 F.3d 357, 366-67 (5th Cir. 2009). We have also previously rejected the argument that the double counting of a defendant’s criminal history necessarily renders a sentence unreasonable. See Duarte, 569 F.3d at 529-31; see also § 2L1.2, comment. (n.6). Finally, Garcia Lucas’s assertions regarding the seriousness of his immigration offense and his motive for reentering the United States do not render his 28-month sentence unreasonable. See, e.g., United States v. Gomez-Herrera, 523 F.3d 554, 565-66 (5th Cir. 2008); United States v. Aguirre-Villa, 460 F.3d 681, 683 (5th Cir. 2006).

Accordingly, the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.



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