Professional Documents
Culture Documents
No. 09-4723
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Agee wrote the opinion, in which Judge Davis and Senior Judge Faber concurred.
COUNSEL
ARGUED: Stephen Clayton Gordon, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellant. Ethan A. Ontjes, OFFICE OF THE UNITED
STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public
Defender, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. George E.
B. Holding, United States Attorney, Anne M. Hayes, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED
STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
OPINION
AGEE, Circuit Judge:
Roberto Diosdado-Star ("Diosdado-Star") pled guilty to
one count of being found in the United States after having
been excluded, deported, and removed from the United States,
in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326(a), and one count of possessing a counterfeit United States Resident Alien card, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1546(a). Diosdado-Star appeals his
sentence of 84 months imprisonment. For the following reasons, we affirm the district courts judgment.
I.
Diosdado-Star, a citizen of Mexico, unlawfully entered the
United States in 1991. In 2002, he was arrested in Texas for
an immigration violation and deported to Mexico, but illegally returned without detection to North Carolina during the
same month.
In 2006, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE")
launched an internal investigation of a Border Patrol Agent
("BPA") named Roberto Herrera, who was suspected of misconduct. During the course of the investigation ICE agents
discovered that Diosdado-Star had been using the pseudonym
"Roberto Herrera," along with several other aliases, and
fraudulently representing himself to be a BPA. Diosdado-Star
was suspected to have done so "in an effort to defraud unsuspecting Hispanic aliens into believing that either they or their
family members could obtain legitimate immigration documents for large amounts of U.S. currency." (J.A. 138).
Diosdado-Star never supplied any such documents to the victims, although he took substantial payments from them as
well as their "Social Security cards, birth certificates, drivers
licenses, passports, Permanent Resident Alien cards, marriage
licenses, tax returns, pay stubs, and utility bills." (J.A. 138).
As a result of this investigation, ICE agents arrested
Diosdado-Star at his residence in Raleigh in 2008. During a
search of his home, agents discovered photos on a laptop
computer of Diosdado-Star wearing a BPA uniform, $3,000
in cash, and "Social Security cards, Mexican birth certificates,
Texas drivers licenses/identification cards, Mexican passports, Permanent Resident Alien cards, Mexican marriage
licenses, tax returns, pay stubs, and utility bills" belonging to
five different victims. (J.A. 139). During a search of
Diosdado-Stars vehicle, agents discovered a fraudulent Permanent Resident Alien card and a fraudulent Social Security
card. During a search of Diosdado-Stars garage, agents found
identification information relating to "an additional 51 victims," and discovered that Diosdado-Star had "deposited
approximately $177,000 in U.S. currency into his various
bank accounts between February 2006 and September 2008"
and "spent large amounts of money on vehicles, car accessories, and large appliances for his home," (J.A. 139), even
though he had no record of employment. Diosdado-Star "admitted [to ICE agents] to being a citizen of Mexico who was
previously deported . . . [and] admitted to illegally reentering
the United States . . . and to posing as a BPA to defraud illegal aliens." (J.A. 139).
437 F.3d at 432 (emphasis added) (internal citations and quotations omitted). Based on the foregoing language that the district court should "first" look to a departure provision before
varying, Diosdado-Star contends the district court procedurally erred by imposing the variant sentence without proceeding first through the departure provisions.1
Accordingly, unless there is "a superseding contrary decision of the Supreme Court," Busby v. Crown Supply, Inc., 896
F.2d 833, 840-41 (4th Cir. 1990), Diosdado-Star argues we
must hold that the district court erred by varying before considering any applicable departures. However, for the reasons
discussed below, the Supreme Courts decisions in United
States v. Rita, 551 U.S. 338 (2007), and Gall implicitly overruled any precedential value the cited language in Moreland
may have had.
In Rita, the Supreme Court responded to the then-existing
circuit split regarding the propriety of "the use of a presumption of reasonableness for within-Guidelines sentences." 551
U.S. at 346. Although the Rita Court ultimately held that a
reviewing appellate court may apply a presumption of reasonableness to a within-Guidelines sentence, the Court also
emphasized the deference owed to sentencing courts decisions. Cf. id. at 354-55.
The Rita Court did not indicate either a difference or preference between departures or variances, or comment upon the
precise procedure of applying either. Instead, the Court noted
the interrelationship between the two, explaining that "it is
fair to assume that the Guidelines, insofar as practicable,
1
that a major departure should be supported by a more significant justification than a minor one." Id. at 50 (emphasis
added).
Furthermore, both Gall and Rita make clear that the practical effects of applying either a departure or a variance are the
same. Together, the decisions direct that any sentence, within
or outside of the Guidelines range, as a result of a departure
or of a variance, must be reviewed by appellate courts for reasonableness pursuant to an abuse of discretion standard. See
Rita, 551 U.S. at 350, 354-55; Gall, 552 U.S. at 46, 49, 51.
Furthermore, either when applying a departure provision or
varying from the Guidelines range, the district court must give
"serious consideration to the extent" of the departure or variance, and "must adequately explain the chosen sentence to
allow for meaningful appellate review and to promote the perception of fair sentencing." Gall, 552 U.S. at 46, 50 (citation
omitted). Therefore, the method by which the district court
deviates from the Guidelines range does not alter (1) the
review in which the courts of appeals must engage, or (2) the
justification the district court must provide.
We effectively acknowledged that Gall and Rita overruled
any effect of the recited language from Moreland in United
States v. Evans, 526 F.3d 155 (4th Cir. 2008). In Evans, the
district court relied both on a variance and two departure provisions to "justif[y] its substantial upward deviation from the
advisory Guidelines range." 526 F.3d at 164. On appeal,
Evans argued that "neither of these Guidelines [departure]
provisions permits an upward deviation here, and therefore
[this Court] must find the sentence unreasonable." Id.
However, we held that, "even if Evans is correct and
Guidelines themselves do not sanction the deviation . . .,
sentence remains reasonable because it properly reflects
3553(a) considerations." Id. Citing both Gall and Rita,
reasoned:
the
the
the
we
10
11
12
13