[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 14-10706

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 1:13-cr-20725-JIC-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff-Appellee,

 

 versus

MARCO CORREA, 

 Defendant-Appellant. 

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No. 14-10861

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 1:13-cr-20725-JIC-2

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff-Appellee,

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 versus

GERSON GOMES, 

 Defendant-Appellant. 

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Appeals from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Florida

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(November 21, 2014)

Before WILSON, WILLIAM PRYOR and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

In their consolidated appeals, Marco Correa and Gerson Gomes challenge 

their sentences of 40 months of imprisonment, which were imposed after they 

pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud with device-making equipment, 18 U.S.C. 

§ 1029(a)(4), and aggravated identity theft, id. § 1028A(a)(1). Correa and Gomes 

argue that their sentences are unreasonable. We affirm.

The district court did not abuse its discretion. Correa and Gomes, citizens of 

Brazil, entered the United States on the same day. Within one month, the two men

established a residence in Miami, Florida; twice installed skimming devices and a 

camera on an automatic teller machine used by 87 debit cardholders; and used the 

account information stolen from some of those cardholders to rent videotapes and 

withdraw $500 from a customer of JP Morgan Chase Bank. The district court 

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reasonably determined that the statutory purposes of sentencing, see 18 U.S.C. 

§ 3553, were best served by imposing a sentence at the high end of Correa’s and 

Gomes’s advisory guideline range of 10 to 16 months of imprisonment for their 

roles in the conspiracy that would run consecutive to a mandatory term of 24 

months of imprisonment for stealing personal identification information, see id.

§ 1028A(a)(1), (b)(2).

Correa and Gomes argue that the district court failed to consider any 

mitigating factors other than their acceptance of responsibility, but the district 

court found their arguments in mitigation unpersuasive. The district court rejected 

Correa’s arguments that he had been gainfully employed in Brazil and had been 

influenced by Gomes and Gomes’s argument that he had not transferred the 

identity information to a third party.

Correa and Gomes also argue that the district court based the sentence 

exclusively on its finding that they entered the United States intending to steal 

identity information, but the district court took into account the “egregious” nature 

of the crimes; Correa’s and Gomes’s admissions that the total intended loss was 

$43,040.13; and the agreement of the government to dismiss five additional counts 

of identity theft. And Correa invited any error by admitting during his sentencing 

hearing that a strong inference could be drawn that he and Gomes entered the 

country to steal other persons’ identities. See United States v. Brannan, 562 F.3d 

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1300, 1306 (11th Cir. 2009). Correa’s and Gomes’s sentences to a term within the 

advisory guideline range are reasonable. 

We AFFIRM Correa’s and Gomes’s sentences.

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