NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Argued December 15, 2020 Decided January 21, 2021 Before MICHAEL S. KANNE, Circuit Judge DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge MICHAEL B. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge No. 19-3250 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appeal from the United States District Plaintiff-Appellee, Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. v. No. 1:18-CR-00855(1) EZEQUIEL SANCHEZ-JIMENEZ, John J. Tharp, Jr., Defendant-Appellant. Judge. ORDER Ezequiel Sanchez-Jimenez pleaded guilty to illegal reentry by a removed alien, 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and 6 U.S.C. § 202(4), and received an above-guidelines prison sentence. On appeal, he argues that his sentence was substantively unreasonable because the district court did not tailor it to the facts of the case. But the district court considered the factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and adequately explained why a sentence above the guidelines was necessary, so we affirm. Sanchez-Jimenez has illegally entered the United States approximately 19 times since 1996. For 13 of these entries, he avoided prosecution by voluntarily returning to Mexico. But in five other instances, the government had him removed after a criminal No. 19-3250 Page 2 conviction. Three of those convictions, including those after his two most recent reentries, were for illegal reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). His prison sentence for illegal reentry has increased with each conviction: 100 days for his first in 1997, 12 months for his second in 2014, and 23 months for his third in 2015 (15-month initial sentence plus 8-month sentence for violation of 2014 supervised release that ran consecutively). In January 2018, approximately five months after his last removal, Sanchez- Jimenez entered the United States without inspection. He was subsequently apprehended in November 2018 by immigration officials, who were alerted to his presence at a state courthouse where he had appeared for a proceeding on a traffic offense. He eventually pleaded guilty to illegal reentry. The probation office calculated a guidelines range of 15 to 21 months based on an offense level of 10 and a criminal history category of IV. 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(1). The key determinant in the calculation of Sanchez-Jimenez’s offense level was a 4-level upward adjustment for having at least one prior illegal-reentry conviction. U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A). Neither party objected to the probation office’s calculations. At sentencing, the parties debated the appropriate length of Sanchez-Jimenez’s prison term. The government sought an above-guidelines sentence based on his history of recidivism and the need for deterrence, while Sanchez-Jimenez argued for a sentence of time served (about 10 months) based on his personal circumstances—his fear of violence in Mexico (where he had been kidnapped by cartel members and tortured) and the presence here of his U.S.-citizen children, one of whom was diagnosed with leukemia. The district court settled upon a 30-month sentence, which it justified as necessary under the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The court acknowledged the non-violent nature of ...
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