United States v. Diaz-Hernandez

── United States v. Diaz-Hernandez ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: May 06, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 24-2154 Document: 62-1 Date Filed: 05/06/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT May 6, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Clerk of Court Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 24-2154 (D.C. No. 2:24-CR-00198-MIS-1) JARDEL HUMBERTO DIAZ- (D. N.M.) HERNANDEZ, Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before BACHARACH, McHUGH, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Jardel Humberto Diaz-Hernandez appeals his 42-month prison sentence for illegally re-entering the United States, challenging the sentence as substantively unreasonable. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm. After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined * unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.  Appellate Case: 24-2154 Document: 62-1 Date Filed: 05/06/2026 Page: 2 I. Mr. Diaz-Hernandez is a citizen of Honduras who was removed from the United States twice in 2003. He later returned and in 2021 was convicted of sexual abuse in Texas and sentenced to two years in prison. After completing that prison term, he was again removed to Honduras in July 2023. He was apprehended in New Mexico four months later, in November 2023, and pled guilty without a plea agreement to unlawful re-entry, 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b). A presentence investigation report (PSR) summarized Mr. Diaz-Hernandez’s criminal history, which included the 2021 Texas conviction and a 2005 DWI. As for the former, the PSR stated an investigation concluded he sexually assaulted his minor step-granddaughter by inappropriately touching her, from 2018 to 2021, and the victim also told nurses he sexually penetrated her. The PSR further stated the investigation discovered Mr. Diaz-Hernandez allegedly sexually assaulted three other victims—the victim’s mother and the mother’s sister, and a second minor. As explained in the PSR, Mr. Diaz-Hernandez denied all allegations but pled guilty to one count of indecency with a child by contact. 1 1 Mr. Diaz-Hernandez did not object to the PSR, which indicated only that he was convicted. But at sentencing, defense counsel described the conviction as a “convenience plea.” R., vol. 3 at 35. Mr. Diaz-Hernandez’s opening brief and publicly available court records also indicate he was convicted pursuant to a guilty plea. See United States v. Guinn, 89 F.4th 838, 852 (10th Cir. 2023) (taking judicial notice of state court records from a defendant’s prior convictions). 2  Appellate Ca