United States v. Gamez Reyes

Defendant pleaded guilty to six counts of harboring and concealing illegal aliens for financial gain and subsequently appealed his sentence. The court concluded that the district court did not err in applying a two-level sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2L1.1(b)(4) for harboring unaccompanied minor aliens where it was reasonably foreseeable to defendant that unaccompanied minors would be smuggled. The district court's finding comports with due process and defendant has not met his burden of demonstrating that his sentence was based on false or unreliable information. The court also concluded that the district court did not err in applying a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2L1.1(b)(8)(A) for involuntarily detaining aliens through coercion or threat or in connection with a demand for payment where this particular smuggling organization detained aliens both in connection with a demand for payment and through coercion or threat. Further, it was reasonably foreseeable to defendant that the organization would detain aliens through coercion or threat or in connection with a demand for payment. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Gamez Reyes" on Justia Law