United States v. Jesus Burruel-Lopez

MEMORANDUM

Following his guilty plea to illegal reentry after deportation, Jesus Burruel-Lopez (“Burruel”) appeals the district court’s rejection of his plea agreement’s stipulated sentence and the adequacy of notice for an above-Guidelines sentence of 36 months. We affirm.

District courts have broad discretion in choosing whether to accept or reject plea agreements. In re Morgan, 506 F.3d 705, 708 (9th Cir.2007). Here, the district court did not apply a categorical rule, but analyzed Burruel’s circumstances and offered specific, individualized reasons why the proposed sentence was insufficient, including Burruel’s criminal history, past sentences for the same offense, and lack of deterrence; therefore, the court did not abuse its discretion. See id. at 712 .

Burruel also claims he did not receive adequate notice under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(h) of the court’s intention to sentence him outside the Guidelines range. However, under the Supreme Court’s decision in Irizarry v. United States, 553 U.S. 708 , 128 S.Ct. 2198 , 171 L.Ed.2d 28 (2008), the terms “variance” and “departure” have separate and distinct meanings, and Rule 32(h) notice is only required when there…