José Ramón González-Rodríguez (“Gon-zález”) challenges the reasonableness of his 33-month incarcerative sentence for possession of a machine gun in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(o) and 924(a)(2). After careful consideration, we affirm.
I.
In August 2015, the Puerto Rico Police Department (“PRPD”) executed a search warrant on a residence in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, after receiving two anonymous complaints about an individual (or individuals) with a weapon at the address, and after a PRPD officer drove by and saw an individual with a weapon outside the home. At the time that the warrant was executed, a PRPD officer arrested González, who was in the home and in possession of a firearm. The PRPD seized the weapon, a .40 caliber Glock pistol, as well as two 22-round and two 15-round magazines, 52 rounds of ammunition, a Glock back slide cover, a cellular phone, a weight scale, and small bags commonly used for drug distribution. González admitted to owning the gun, which he claimed that he had bought because “it is fashion[able] in Puerto Rico,” and he admitted to knowing that it was capable of firing automatically. He also admitted to using marijuana between seven and eight times per day and to taking Tramadol — a narcotic-like pain reliever- — -frequently.
González was transferred to federal custody and, ultimately, entered a straight guilty plea to possession of a machine gun. The Probation Office subsequently determined that U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(B) was the applicable guideline and that — after applying a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility under § 3E1.1— González’s total offense level was 17. When combined with González’s criminal history category of I, this yielded an advisory guideline sentencing range of 24 to 30 months’ imprisonment. González did not contest the presentence investigation report (“PSR”) prepared by the Probation Office.
Prior to his sentencing hearing, Gonzá-lez submitted a sentencing memorandum requesting a downward variance to 18 months’ imprisonment, whereas the government requested an upward variance to 33 months’ imprisonment. The district court sentenced González according to the government’s recommendation. The court explained that González’s “conduct [flouted] the law and ... represented] a risk to the community.” Therefore, the court concluded, the variant sentence was “sufficient but not greater than necessary to meet [the] objectives of punishment and of deterrence in this case.”
This timely appeal followed.
II.
Claims of sentencing error such as González’s trigger a two-step inquiry: “we [must] first determine whether the sentence imposed is proeedurally reasonable and then determine whether it is substantively reasonable.” United States v. Clogston,
A. Procedural Reasonableness
When evaluating the procedural reasonableness of a sentence, “we afford de novo review to the sentencing court’s interpretation and application of the sentencing guidelines, assay the court’s fact-finding for clear error, and evaluate its judgment calls for abuse of discretion.” United States v. Ruiz-Huertas,
González first argues that the district court “mistakenly exaggerated [his] use of controlled substances.” He concedes that he regularly used marijuana prior to his arrest but asserts that there is “no evidence in the record that [he] ever used Tramadol.” Yet, according to the “Substance Abuse” section of the PSR, González himself reported taking Trama-dol. “Generally, a PSR bears sufficient in-dicia of reliability to permit the district court to rely on it at sentencing.” United States v. Cyr,
Next, González makes a series of arguments — raised for the first time on appeal — that the government “misled the District Court at the sentencing hearing” and in its sentencing memorandum by making statements contrary to the evidence or without evidentiary support, thereby inducing the district court’s reliance on erroneous facts. Arguments raised for the first time on appeal are either forfeited or waived. See United States v. Aguasvivas-Castillo,
González claims that the government did not adequately support its assertion that his machine gun posed a risk to “anybody that would have been around” him. He argues that, in most states, “ownership and possession of certain machine guns is legal under both state and Federal law” and, hence, “not ... inordinately dangerous.” The undisputed fact that machine gun ownership is legal in some narrow
González derides as “patently untrue” the government’s argument that machine guns like his are not used for personal protection.
González argues that the government made a “grotesque exaggeration” when it claimed that automatic weapons fire “tons of ammunition.” This may have been an unnecessary rhetorical flourish, but it hardly went beyond the pale. González was, after all, in possession of two extended magazines that were taped together to facilitate faster loading of the Glock. Gon-zález relatedly claims that the government misleadingly implied that he possessed an “unusually large” amount of ammunition. We find no inappropriate insinuation in either the government’s sentencing memorandum or in the transcript of the sentencing hearing. In fact, both the government and the district court specifically stated that there were “54 rounds” of ammunition.
Moving on, González claims that the “’elephant’ in the room at the sentencing hearing ... was the prosecution’s argument that [González] was involved in uncharged criminal activity,” namely, drug distribution (footnote omitted). In both its sentencing memorandum and at the sentencing hearing, the government asked the district court to impose a sentence of 33 months, and it was free to offer reasons supporting its recommendation — namely, that González could be “link[ed] to other ... criminal activity as well.” See 18 U.S.C. § 3661. González describes the government’s argument as “unsupported by evidence in the record.” But our review of the record reveals González’s characterization to be false. The uncontested PSR states that one anonymous complainant reported to the PRPD that an individual was carrying “illegal firearms to protect a drug
González does attempt to offer facially plausible alternative explanations for these unfavorable facts: for example, plastic “baggies ... have multiple kitchen uses, including ... the legal transportation of lunch sandwiches,” and “the scale was his mother’s and she used it to make ‘dumplings.’ ” Yet, “[i]f the facts plausibly support competing inferences, as here, a sentencing court cannot clearly err in choosing one.” United States v. Olivero,
In his final claim of procedural error, González characterizes the district court’s “explanation of the above-guidelines sentence as short and simple” and, therefore, inadequate. To be sure, a district court has the burden of explaining deviations from the guideline range. See United States v. Martin,
In sum, we do not find González’s sentence procedurally unreasonable.
B. Substantive Reasonableness
With respect to substantive reasonableness, we usually review for abuse of discretion, taking into account the totality of the circumstances. United States v. Zavala-Martí,
González argues that his above-guideline sentence is substantively unreasonable. Yet, a sentence falling out
The record shows that the district court considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors and adequately explained its sentence. See Arroyo-Maldonado,
We find no abuse of the court s broad discretion. Under the circumstances, imposition of a 33-month sentence was not substantively unreasonable. Cf. Clogston,
III.
For the forgoing reasons, we affirm.
Notes
. González attempts to expand the record on appeal by appending several photographs and a Department of Homeland Security Report of Investigation to his brief. This evidence was not presented to the district court and is not properly part of the record on appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 10(a). Thus, we disregard it. See United States v. Gonsalves,
. The record contains contradictory statements as to whether González ever claimed to use his Glock for personal protection. On the one hand, the PSR states that González "denied possessing [the Glock] for protection” and bought it because to do so was fashionable. On the other hand, the government stated at the sentencing hearing that González claimed to have "this weapon for his protection.” González did not object in either instance. The resulting ambiguity further buttresses our conclusion that there was no plain error here.
. The government concedes in its appellate brief that the court and the government mistakenly noted 54 rounds of ammunition. Only 52 rounds were actually seized.
. On appeal, González disputes that these items constitute "drug paraphernalia/' but— under the circumstances-we disagree. See, e.g., United States v. DesMarais,
