United States of America v. Darling Paulino-Duarte

Before LOKEN, MURPHY, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.

Darling Paulino-Duarte, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, came to the United States in 1996, at age fifteen, with his mother and two siblings. His father remained in the Dominican Republic, and his siblings soon returned. But PaulinoDuarte embarked on a life of crime in this country, selling drugs on the streets of New York City. He was deported to the Dominican Republic in 1998, following four New York drug convictions, the last a felony conviction for the sale of crack cocaine. He illegally reentered and resumed drug trafficking. After two more New York drug convictions, he was convicted of illegal re-entry, served 57 months in prison, and was again deported in 2004. He illegally returned to the United States in 2006, came to Minnesota, and was convicted in February 2010 of fleeing the police officers he led on a 100 miles-per-hour car chase. Police found methamphetamine on the floor mat of his car. Those offenses led to this prosecution for illegal re-entry after removal in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1326(a) and 1326(b)(2) and 6 U.S.C. §§ 202 and 557. Paulino-Duarte pleaded guilty and now appeals his 77-month prison sentence as substantively unreasonable. We affirm.