United States v. Guillermo Ceballos-Santa-Cruz
2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 12022
| 8th Cir. | 2014Background
- Santa Cruz pled guilty in 2008 to illegal reentry (8 U.S.C. § 1326); prior felony enhanced guideline range to 24–30 months, reduced 2 levels to 18–24 months; sentenced to 18 months + 3 years supervised release.
- After serving, he was removed; supervised release term tolled while imprisoned and set to expire Jan 31, 2013, but arrest and conviction events occurred near that period.
- On Jan 29, 2013, Santa Cruz pled guilty in Arizona to a misdemeanor illegal-entry charge (8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1)) for reentry on Jan 23, 2013, and received 180 days imprisonment.
- Probation filed a petition alleging Santa Cruz violated supervised-release conditions by committing another federal crime (illegal reentry), failing to notify probation of arrest, and illegally reentering after deportation; a warrant issued June 10, 2013 (term tolled so revocation jurisdiction remained).
- Dispute: whether the supervised-release violation should be graded as a Grade C (based on the misdemeanor plea, max 6 months) or Grade B (based on the underlying conduct, punishable over one year under § 1326(b)(1)), which affects guideline range; Santa Cruz's criminal history category was IV.
- District court treated the violation as Grade B, calculated a 12–18 month range, and sentenced Santa Cruz to 18 months (top of range) for deterrence; this appeal challenges substantive reasonableness.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether supervised-release violation grade should be C (based on misdemeanor plea) or B (based on underlying conduct) | Santa Cruz: use the Arizona misdemeanor conviction (max 6 months) -> Grade C | Government: use actual conduct (reentry after deportation punishable >1 year under § 1326(b)(1)) -> Grade B | Court: Grade B; court may classify by actual conduct rather than plea offense |
| Whether 18-month sentence for revocation is substantively unreasonable | Santa Cruz: 18 months is greater than necessary under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) | Government: sentence within properly calculated guideline range and justified by deterrence and prior leniency | Court: sentence substantively reasonable; no abuse of discretion |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Thunder, 553 F.3d 605 (8th Cir. 2009) (standard of review for substantive reasonableness on supervised-release revocation)
- United States v. Watson, 480 F.3d 1175 (8th Cir. 2007) (abuse-of-discretion framework for weighing sentencing factors)
- United States v. Schwab, 85 F.3d 326 (8th Cir. 1996) (violation grades based on actual conduct rather than plea offense)