United States of America v. Jesus Ramon Berrelleza

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JESUS RAMON BERRELLEZA,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 17-50052
D.C. No. 3:15-cr-00826-BEN
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Roger T. Benitez, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted May 15, 2018**
Before: SILVERMAN, BEA, and WATFORD, Circuit Judges.
Jesus Ramon Berrelleza appeals from the district court’s judgment and
challenges the 144-month sentence imposed upon remand following his guilty-plea
conviction for importation of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952
and 960. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
MAY 18 2018
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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2 17-50052
Berrelleza contends that the district court erred by denying his request for a
minor role reduction under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. He argues that the court improperly
refused to compare him to his likely co-participants in the offense, and did not
consider each of the five factors set forth in the commentary to the Guideline.
We decline to decide whether the district court’s analysis of Berrelleza’s
request for a minor role reduction was deficient because the record reflects that any
error was harmless. See United States v. Ali, 620 F.3d 1062, 1074 (9th Cir. 2010)
(when an alleged error is harmless, it is not grounds for resentencing). This appeal
followed the court’s second denial of a minor role adjustment. After noting
Berrelleza’s prior drug smuggling offense, the court explained that “there is no way
in the world … that I would find that this defendant should be given minor role in
this case.” Under these circumstances, we conclude that, even absent the alleged
deficiencies in the court’s minor role analysis, it would have denied the reduction.
AFFIRMED.

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