United States v. Juan Cabezas

MEMORANDUM

Juan Cabezas (Cabezas) pled guilty to one count each of mail fraud, bank fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft, and received four concurrent 63-month sentences followed by a 24-month sentence to be served consecutively. Cabezas appeals the district court’s imposition of an abuse of trust enhancement, the court’s alleged failure to address the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities under 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (a)(6), and the court’s purported reliance on unreliable victim statements during sentencing. We affirm.

As Cabezas concedes, a factual and legal basis for the abuse of trust enhancements exists. While his plea agreement did not contemplate the imposition of this enhancement, the plea agreement was not binding on the court. Moreover, the district court imposed a within-Guidelines sentence, and Cabezas had already conceded that his Guidelines range fell within the neighborhood of sentences imposed in similar cases. No further explanation was required under 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (a)(6). United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 992 (9th Cir.2008) (“A within-Guidelines sentence ordinarily needs little explanation ... because both the…