Nunez

MEMORANDUM **

Before the district court, the government alleged that, along with several others, Defendants-Appellants Mario Arriaga-Nunez, aka, Jorge Alexander Canchóla (Canchóla) and Javier Castaneda transported and distributed large quantities of methamphetamine in Nevada and Idaho. Canchóla pled guilty and requested a 188-month sentence, which the district court imposed. On appeal, Canchóla argues that the sentence was unreasonable. Castaneda went to trial and was convicted. On appeal, he argues that the district court erred by failing to give a mere presence jury instruction and by failing to grant a mistrial, admonish the jury, or strike certain testimony that he argues was irrelevant and unduly prejudicial. As the remaining facts and procedural history are familiar to the parties, we do not recite them here except as necessary to explain our disposition.

1. Substantive Reasonableness of Canchola’s Sentence

Canchola argues that his sentence was substantively unreasonable. The Sentencing Guidelines and 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (a) factors, however, indicate otherwise. First, Canchola’s sentence is twenty-two months below the bottom of the applicable range of 210 to 262 months.…