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FOR PUBLICATION

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: BRUCE W. GRAHAM Trueblood & Graham P.C. Lafayette, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: STEVE CARTER Attorney General of Indiana MATTHEW D. FISHER Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
IVAN LUIS VAZQUEZ, Appellant-Defendant, vs. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee-Plaintiff. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 79A02-0506-CR-504

APPEAL FROM THE TIPPECANOE SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Thomas H. Busch, Judge Cause No. 79D02-0308-FA-24

December 30, 2005 OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION VAIDIK, Judge

Case Summary Ivan Luis Vazquez appeals his sentence after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Cocaine as a Class A felony. Specifically, Vazquez contends that the trial court erred in sentencing him to the maximum term of fifty years with five years suspended to probation because it found improper aggravators and failed to give sufficient weight to the mitigators. He also contends that his sentence is inappropriate and that the trial court erred in ordering his sentence in this case to run consecutive to his sentence in another case. Finding no error in the trial court's aggravated and consecutive sentences and concluding that Vazquez's sentence is not inappropriate, we affirm the trial court. Facts and Procedural History Between 2001 and 2003, Vazquez agreed with several people to commit dealing in cocaine. To that end, Vazquez obtained cocaine in amounts greater than three grams and then delivered, with another person, that cocaine to others in exchange for money. For his role in these crimes and others, in 2003, the State charged Vazquez with twelve offenses: two counts of Dealing in Cocaine as Class A felonies, three counts of

Possession of Cocaine as Class C felonies, Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Cocaine as a Class A felony, Possession of Methamphetamine as a Class C felony, three counts of Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Substance as Class D felonies, Maintaining a Common Nuisance as a Class D felony, and Corrupt Business Influence as a Class C felony. In exchange for the dismissal of the remainder of the charges, in 2004, Vazquez pled guilty to Dealing in Cocaine as a Class A felony and Conspiracy to Commit Dealing 2

in Cocaine as a Class A felony. The plea agreement provided that "the Court shall impose whatever sentence it deems appropriate after hearing argument of counsel." 1 Appellant's App. p. 46. In sentencing Vazquez, the trial court identified the following aggravating circumstances: (1) Vazquez's criminal history; (2) Vazquez committed "numerous

offenses over a substantial period of time with numerous transferees with respect to the drugs;" (3) Vazquez "was a dealer, not a user, with respect to cocaine;" (4) Vazquez attempted to intimidate a witness prior to her testimony; and (5) there have been prior attempts at rehabilitation. Id. at 7. Although the trial court did not identify any

mitigators in its Sentencing Order, see id., the court identified two mitigators at the sentencing hearing. First, the court stated that Vazquez's guilty plea, although "coming relatively late in the game and pretty unwillingly," was entitled to "some" mitigating weight. Sent. Tr. p. 83. The court also gave "little weight" to the hardship on Vazquez's six dependents because it found that he had been supporting them by illegal means all along. Id. at 82. Finding that the aggravators outweighed any mitigators, the trial court sentenced Vazquez to the maximum term of fifty years on Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Cocaine as a Class A felony 2 with five years suspended to probation. 3 The

The plea agreement also provided that Vazquez consented to judicial fact-finding of aggravators and mitigators; therefore, Vazquez does not make a Blakely challenge on appeal.
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Ind. Code

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