FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P EALS E LEV EN T HC IRC U IT SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 07- 10505 N on -A rgum entC al endar

________________________ D . C . D ocketN o. 06 -003 39 -C R -J E C -1-1 U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A , P la in tif f - A p p e lle e , v ersu s E U G E N I O E S T R A D A A C O S T A , a .k .a . C a r lo s E s tr a d aM e d in a , D e f e n d a n t- A p p e lla n t.

________________________ A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f o rth e N o r th e rn D is tr ic t o f G e o r g ia

_________________________ ( S e p t e m b e r 6, 2007) B efo re C A RN E S , W IL S O N an d P R Y O R , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M:2

E ug eni o E stra da A cost a app ea l s hi s 60-m on th p ri son sent ence for i l l egal re entryi n v i ol at i on of 8 U . S . C . § 1 32 6. T hatse nt ence exce eds w hatthe part i es agre e i s the appl i cabl e gui del i ne ra ng e of 37– 46 m on ths, re sul t i ng fr om an adj ust ed o f f e n s e le v e l o f

1 7 a n d a c r im in a l h is to ry c a te g o ry o f I V . A tthe s e nt e nc e he a r i ng, the di s tr i c tc our tga ve tw o r e a s ons f ors e l e c t i ng the 60 -m on th p ri son t erm . T he fi rs tre as on focuse d o n A cost a’ s e xt ensi ve cr i m i nal hi st ory, w hi ch i ncl ud ed: (1) three depo rt at i on orders (tw o o f w hi ch l ed t o actual d ep o rt at i o n s); (2 ) a p ri o r co n v i ct i o n fo r i l l eg al reen try; (3 ) tw o d ru g co n v i ct i o n s; ( 4 ) ad ru g - r e la te d c r im in a l tr e s p a s s c o n v ic tio n ; ( 5 ) f a ilu r e to ap p e a ro n a w a rr a n t; a n d ( 6 ) r e p e a te d u s e o f

f a ls e n a m e s . I t a ls o in c lu d e d A c o s ta ’s M a y 2 0 0 3 g u ilty pl e a t o s i m pl e ba tt e ry , w hi c h r e s ul t e d f r om c ha r ge s tha tA c os t aha d ha r a s s e d at e ny e a r - ol d gi r l a nd gr abbe d he rbutt oc ks . A f t e rr e c ount i ng a l l of

the s e thi ngs , the di stri ctcourtsa i d thati tw ou l d d epartup w ar d from A cost a’ s c ri m i nal hi st ory c a t e gory , r e a s oni ng tha ta c r i m i na l hi s t ory c a t e gory of V I

— a nd i t s c orr e s pondi ng gui de l i ne r a nge of

51–63 m onths

— w oul d m or e a c c ur a t e l y r e f l e c tthi s “ s e r i ous cr i m i nal re cord. ” A l t ernat i vel y, the di stri ctcourtexer ci se d i t s pow erun der U ni t ed S t at es v. B oo ker, 54 3 U . S . 22 0, 12 5 S . C t . 73 8 (20 05 ), t o exceed the advi sory g u id e lin e s r a n g e , c itin g “th e p u rp o s e o f d e te rr e n c e a n d p r o te c tio n o f s o c ie ty a n d a ll th e o th e rth in g s I a m s u p p o s e d to c o n s id e r .”3

A c os t a ’ s s ol e c ont e nt i on on appe a l i s tha tthe di s tr i c tc our tvi ol a t e d hi s due pr oc e s s r i ght s byi nc r e a s i ng hi s s e nt e nc e on the ba s i s of the f a c t s unde r l y i ng the char ges w hi ch re sul t ed i n h i s M ay20 03 gu i l ty pl eat o b att ery, w hi ch he descr i bes a s “ unc orr obor a t e d, unr e l i abl e a l l e ga t i ons tha the ha s [ ne ve r ] a dm i tt e d t o a nd f or w h ic h h e h a s n e v e rb e e n c o n v ic te d .” A s h e d id b e f o r e th e d is tr ic t c o u r t, A c o s ta c i t e s the r e a s oni ng i n T a y l orv. U ni t e d S t a t e s , 495 U . S . 575, 110 S . C t . 2143 ( 1990) , t o s uppor thi s a r gum e nttha tthe ba r e a l l e ga t i ons c ont a i ne d i n the r e l e va nt c h a r g in g d o c u m e n ts f

a il to p r o v id e a s u f

f ic ie n tly r e liab le u n d e r s ta n d in g o f h is a c tu a l c o n d u c t. T he T a y l orde c i s i on doe s notdi c t a t e the out c om e of thi s c a s e . T o the T a y l or C our t , the “ pr a c t i c a l di f f i c ul t i e s a nd pot e nt i a l unf a i rne s s ” i nhe r e nti n r e l y i ng on the s urr oundi ng f

a c t s l e a di ng t o ade f

e nda nt ’ s gui l ty pl e aw e r e a f a c t ori n a ns w e r i ng the que s t i on “ w he the rthe s e nt e nc i ng c our ti n appl y i ng [ the s e nt e nc e e nha nc e m e nt s pe c i f i e d i n 18 U . S . C . ] § 924( e ) m us tl ook onl y t o the s t a tut ory de f i ni t i ons of

the pri or offe nses ” thatw ou l d tri gg erthe enhancem entand n otother e vi dence c onc e rni ng thos e of

f e ns e s . I d. a t600, 601, 110 S . C t . a t2159. I n othe rw or ds , the C our tw a s e xpl a i ni ng how t o appl y § 924( e ) , nothow t o appl y the s e nt e nc i ng g u i d el i n es. Itw as cert ai n l y n o tad d ressi n g th e req u i rem en t s o f d u e p ro cess. E v en i f w e accep t , h o w ev er, th e p rem i se th atch arg i n g d o cu m en t s are l ess4

r e l i abl e tha n s om e othe rs our c e s of e vi de nc e , A c os t aha s notm e thi s bur de n of e s t abl i s hi ng adue pr oc e s s vi ol a t i on. “ W he r e a de f e nda ntc l a i m s tha thi s due pr oc e s s r i ght s ha ve be e n vi ol a t e d by the s e nt e nc i ng c our t ’ s r e l i a nc e on f a l s e or unr e l i abl e i nf

orm a t i on, he m us tm a ke a s how i ng of tw o e l e m e nt s : ( 1) tha tthe chal l enged evi dence i s m at er i al l y f al se or un re l i abl e, and (2) thati tac tual l y s erved a s th e b a s is f

o rth e s e n te n c e .” U n ite d S ta te s v . R e m e , 7 3 8 F .2 d 1 1 5 6 , 1 1 6 7 ( 1 1 th C ir . 1 9 8 4 ) . A t s e n te n c in g , A c o s tas p e c u la te d th a t th e r e m ig h t b e “a f a m ily s itu a tio n in v o lv e d ” b e tw e e n h im s e lf a n d th e te n - y e a r - o ld v ic tim o f h is h a r a s s m e n t, the appa r e nti m pl i c a t i on be i ng tha tthi s c i r c um s t a nc e m i ghts om e how l e s s e n the e gr e gi ous ne s s of

hi s c onduc t . T ha tw a s the e xt e ntof A c os t a ’ s c ha l l e nge t o the r e liab ility o f

th e in f o rm a tio n f

r o m th e p o lic e r e p o r ts . A c o s tan e v e ra c tu a lly c h a lle n g e d th e a c c u r a c y o f th e f a c ts r e p o r te d in p r e s e n te n c e in v e s tig a tio n r e p o r t, w hi ch for pres entpu rposes m ea ns thathe has a dm i tt ed tho se fa ct s. S ee U ni t ed S t a t e s v. W a de , 458 F . 3d 1273, 1277 ( 11th C i r . 2006) , c e r t . de ni e d, 127 S . C t . 2096 ( 2 0 0 7 ) . AF F I RME D.