United States v. Juan Cabrera-Claros

── United States v. Juan Cabrera-Claros ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: May 29, 2026 Category: General NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 26a0246n.06 No. 25-3926 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT May 29, 2026 KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR v. ) THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ) ) OHIO JUAN A. CABRERA-CLAROS, ) Defendant-Appellant. ) OPINION Before: GIBBONS, MURPHY, and HERMANDORFER, Circuit Judges. MURPHY, Circuit Judge. Juan Cabrera-Claros pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States after he had been removed. The district court imposed an above-guidelines sentence of 24 months’ imprisonment. Cabrera-Claros now challenges this sentence. He argues that the district court varied above his guidelines range based on an unreliable police report about his prior sex crimes. And he argues that the court did not adequately explain the variance. But the district court used the police report only for two largely undisputed facts about his prior crimes: that he was convicted of gross sexual imposition and that he committed the offenses against a relative. And the court left no doubt about why it varied upward: Cabrera-Claros repeatedly entered this country unlawfully and committed serious crimes while here. We affirm. No. 25-3926, United States v. Cabrera-Claros I Cabrera-Claros is a citizen of El Salvador. He entered the United States illegally three times between 2011 and 2013. The government removed him each time. Yet he returned to the country again soon after his third removal. He made his way to northeast Ohio. According to a report issued by the South Euclid Police Department, Cabrera-Claros’s 12- year-old daughter accused him of touching her inappropriately in 2024. The victim’s mother reported him to the police. The police investigated his daughter’s claims and arrested Cabrera- Claros on rape charges. They also alerted immigration authorities. In July 2025, an Ohio court convicted Cabrera-Claros of two counts of gross sexual imposition. The court sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment and classified him as a tier-one sex offender. While Cabrera-Claros’s state criminal case remained pending, the United States charged him with illegally reentering the country after a prior removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). Cabrera- Claros pleaded guilty to this crime. Before sentencing, a probation officer prepared Cabrera-Claros’s presentence report. The probation officer relied on the South Euclid Police Department’s report to summarize the facts underlying Cabrera-Claros’s sex offenses. Among other things, the presentence report noted that the victim had told hospital staff that Cabrera-Claros had “touched her inappropriately in June 2024[.]” Rep., R.14, PageID 54. The report suggested that she had confirmed these allegations during an interview when she explained that Cabrera-Claros “touched her” and that she “tried to leave and push [him] off her” but could not. Id., PageID 55. She added that Cabrera-Claros threatened to “hurt her family” if she told anyone. Id. The report lastly su