United States v. Sergio Rodriguez, 664 F. App'x 607

Defendant Sergio Rodriguez was convicted of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 39A and previously convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 32(a)(5) and (a)(8); the § 32 conviction and sentence were vacated on prior appeal.
On remand the district court resentenced Rodriguez on the § 39A conviction to the statutory maximum of 60 months, despite an advisory Guidelines range of 21–27 months.
The district court found aggravating circumstances: multiple strikes of the helicopter (six or seven), involvement/continued presence of his minor children, and commission of the offense while on probation.
The court also found Rodriguez had a serious, extensive criminal history (felonies, misdemeanors, probation violations, and violent conduct) and lacked respect for the law, warranting deterrence and public protection.
Rodriguez challenged the sentence as substantively unreasonable, arguing the court overstated offense conduct and criminal history, failed to give weight to alcohol impairment, erroneously used offense elements to enhance the sentence, and created unwarranted disparity with co-defendants.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding the district court gave sufficiently compelling § 3553(a) justifications for the variance and did not abuse its discretion; Rodriguez’s reassignment request was moot.

Issue	Rodriguez's Argument	Government's/Respondent's Argument	Held
Whether the 60‑month sentence was substantively unreasonable (variance >100%)	Sentence was unwarranted: court overstated conduct and history, double‑counted offense elements, failed to weigh alcohol impact	District court reasonably considered § 3553(a) factors (dangerousness, multiple strikes, children involved, serious criminal history, probation status) and deterrence/public protection justified variance	Affirmed: no abuse of discretion; record shows rational, meaningful § 3553(a) consideration
Whether reassignment to a different judge is required on remand	Requested reassignment to preserve appearance of justice if resentencing ordered	No resentencing ordered; reassignment request moot	Denied as moot

United States v. Rodriguez, 790 F.3d 951 (9th Cir. 2015) (prior appeal vacating § 32 conviction and directing remand)
United States v. Ressam, 679 F.3d 1069 (9th Cir. 2012) (en banc) (standard for reviewing substantive reasonableness and assessing variances)
Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007) (abuse‑of‑discretion review and guidance on evaluating extent of deviation)
United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc) (deference to district court sentencing decisions)
United States v. Gardenhire, 784 F.3d 1277 (9th Cir. 2015) (intervening authority affecting resentencing considerations)
United States v. Amezcua‑Vasquez, 567 F.3d 1050 (9th Cir. 2009) (discussion of reversal standard for sentencing decisions)