United States v. Eric Mukasa

MEMORANDUM

Eric Mukasa appeals from the 48-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for encouraging aliens to enter or reside in the United States illegally, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(1)(A)(iv) and (B)(1). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Mukasa contends that the district court committed procedural error by sentencing him to an above-Guidelines sentence under the 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (a) factors without prior notice, by failing to undertake an individualized analysis, and by failing to explain why it rejected his request for a downward variance based on post-offense rehabilitation. The record belies these contentions. See United States v. Orlando, 553 F.3d 1235, 1238 (9th Cir.2009) (“Garden variety considerations of culpability, criminal history, likelihood of re-offense, seriousness of the crime, should not generally come as a surprise to trial lawyers who have prepared for sentencing”) (quotation marks, citation and alterations omitted); United States v. Perez-Perez, 512 F.3d 514, 516 (9th Cir.2008) (finding no error where it was clear from the transcript that the sentencing judge had considered the defendant’s mitigation…