Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-90-03186/USCOURTS-ca10-90-03186-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Alex Garcia
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

.1:4\ ILE D 

UniteG Stat-Rs C~~rt ~~ Appeak 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

APR 12 1991 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

vs. 

ALEX GARCIA, 

aka Alejando Garcia, 

Defendant-Appellant. 

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No. 90-3186 

(D.C. No. 88-10102-01-T) 

(D. of Kans.) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before MOORE, ALDISERT,** and McWILLIAMS, Circuit Judges. 

The single question for decision in this appeal is whether 

the district court's upward departure in sentencing Alex Garcia 

was reasonable. We hold that the circumstances relied upon by the 

district court were significant, beyond those contemplated by the 

Guidelines, and the departure was reasonable. 

*This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall not 

be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, except 

for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of the case, 

res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

**Honorable Ruggero J. Aldisert, United States Senior Circuit 

Judge for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting by designation. 

Appellate Case: 90-3186 Document: 010110031935 Date Filed: 04/12/1991 Page: 1 
In a two-count indictment, Alex Garcia was charged with 

violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 and § 2 for preparing false 

immigration documents for two individuals, who were then qualified 

as special agricultural workers eligible to receive work permits 

under the Immigration and Naturalization Amnesty Program. Mr. 

Garcia pled guilty to the offense. The Presentence Report 

described how undercover agents contacted Mr. Garcia who readily 

agreed to prepare the documents for a fee of $560. Information 

obtained from the INS described the extent of Mr. Garcia's 

activities which included ten to fifteen individuals who assisted 

him. At least one, Gerry Cherry, started his own operation after 

learning the procedure from Mr. Garcia. Although Mr. Garcia 

admitted creating about 100 documents, the government was prepared 

to prove over 500 names for which false papers had been submitted. 

The Sentencing Recommendation indicated that during a seven-month 

period Mr. Garcia received at least $120,000 for his services, a 

conservative estimate given the number of applications processed. 

Moreover, the Sentencing Recommendation stated that the damage to 

the government as a consequence of this illegal activity was 

incalculable, requiring perhaps "overwhelming" financial resources 

and time. Based on the Guideline range of eighteen to twenty-four 

months, the PSR recommended a tentative sentence of sixty months. 

During the subsequent sentencing hearing, Mr. Garcia urged a 

reduction in his sentence because of his willingness to cooperate 

with authorities and his acceptance of responsibility for his 

conduct. Nevertheless, predicated on the court's view that "this 

is not just an ordinary§ 1001 case," the court imposed sentence 

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Appellate Case: 90-3186 Document: 010110031935 Date Filed: 04/12/1991 Page: 2 
of thirty-six months on count one, followed by a term of three 

years of supervised release, and thirty-six months on count two, 

followed by three years of supervised release, the two sentences 

to run concurrently. The court reserved judgment on the 

government's proposal to enhance the sentence to the upper limit 

of five years. The district court ordered Mr. Garcia to serve his 

term at the United States Medical Facility in Springfield, 

M. . 1 .1.ssour.1.. 

In a subsequent memorandum setting forth the reasons for its 

sentence under 18 u.s.c. § 3553(c), the district court first 

stated that Mr. Garcia's leadership was significant, employing 

"between ten and fifteen people." In addition, another person 

"charged and sentenced in a companion case, started his own 

operation after learning from the defendant how to falsify the 

documents." Second, the court believed Mr. Garcia's illegal 

conduct caused "significant disruption of a governmental 

function." Because administrative action was no longer available, 

the government's only recourse was to institute individual 

criminal prosecutions, a costly and ultimately impractical 

solution, the district court observed. Finally, the court stated 

that Mr. Garcia earned substantial sums of money, perhaps as much 

as $200,000, during a time when he also received welfare payments. 

All of these circumstances, the district court concluded, 

were not adequately considered in formulating the Guidelines. 

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The PSR indicated that Mr. Garcia suffers from diabetes and high 

blood pressure. 

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Appellate Case: 90-3186 Document: 010110031935 Date Filed: 04/12/1991 Page: 3 
..... 

Consequently, their presence in fact in this case merited the 

upward departure from twenty-four months to thirty-six months. 

Despite Mr. Garcia's arguments to the contrary, 3 we are 

satisfied that the district court properly explained why the 

Guidelines sentence was inadequate; identified the specific 

factual basis for the departure; and established why the exact 

degree of departure was reasonable. United States v. Jackson, 921 

F.2d 985, 989 (10th Cir. 1990); United States v. White, 893 F.2d 

276, 278 (10th Cir. 1990). Given the government's proposal of a 

five-year sentence, the district court's twelve-month upward 

departure resulting in a thirty-six month sentence was fully 

established by the record and reasonable. 

AFFIRMED. 

Entered for the Court 

John P. Moore 

Circuit Judge 

3

For example, Mr. Garcia contends the PSR already had added four 

points for his role in the offense. Nevertheless, the court's 

upward departure was based on Mr. Garcia's "unusual" role, well 

beyond that of a ringleader in its effect and operation. 

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Appellate Case: 90-3186 Document: 010110031935 Date Filed: 04/12/1991 Page: 4