United States of America v. Vincente Villela

Denver, Colorado criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with violating the conditions of supervised release.



In 2023, Defendant-Appellant Vicente Villela was serving two concurrent

terms of supervised release. He violated his conditions of supervision on four

separate occasions. After the fourth violation, the district court revoked both of

Mr. Villela's supervised-release terms and sentenced him to two consecutive,

eighteen-month terms of imprisonment, an upward variance.



2

Mr. Villela presents three challenges in this consolidated appeal. First, he

argues that the district court's mention of the need for "promotion of respect for the

law” under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A) in its sentencing remarks renders his sentences

reversible on plain-error review. Second, Mr. Villela contends that the district court

abused its discretion by failing to adequately explain his sentences. Third, he argues

that the district court abused its discretion by failing to provide him with proper

notice of the sentences.



* * *



Mr. Villela was initially arrested on December 10, 2017, pursuant to an arrest

warrant related to his involvement in transporting illegal aliens from El Paso, Texas

to Phoenix, Arizona. In July 2018, Mr. Villela pleaded guilty to a felony charge of

conspiracy to transport illegal aliens in the District of New Mexico, Case

No. 18-cr-814. The district court sentenced him to time served plus three years of

supervised release.



Mr. Villela began his first term of supervised release on July 23, 2018. He

absconded from supervision less than a month later. He also missed multiple

substance-abuse counseling sessions, urinalysis tests, and breathalyzer tests. An

arrest warrant was subsequently issued for Mr. Villela, and he was taken into custody

on February 7, 2019. On March 14, 2019, the district court revoked his supervised-

Appellate Case: 23-2145 Document: 67-1 Date Filed: 12/23/2024 Page: 2

release term and sentenced him to time served plus thirty-four months of supervised

release.

Affirmed