Source: http://openjurist.org/212/f3d/127/united-states-of-america-v-ronald-sentamu
Timestamp: 2013-12-08 08:19:45
Document Index: 631100403

Matched Legal Cases: ['§5', '§952', '§960', '§841', '§952', '§952', '§5', '§1228', '§1105', '§1231']

212 F3d 127 United States of America v. Ronald Sentamu | OpenJurist
212 F. 3d 127 - United States of America v. Ronald Sentamu	Home212 f3d 127 united states of america v. ronald sentamu
212 F3d 127 United States of America v. Ronald Sentamu 212 F.3d 127 (2nd Cir. 2000)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellant,v.RONALD SENTAMU, Defendant-Appellee.
Docket No. 99-1315August Term, 1999
Argued: January 3, 2000Decided: May 12, 2000
Appeal by United States from so much of a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Charles P. Sifton, then-Chief Judge, as granted defendant a downward departure pursuant to Sentencing Guidelines §5K2.0 in recognition of his consent to removal from the United States.
JONATHAN E. DAVIS, Assistant United States Attorney, Brooklyn, New York (Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, David C. James, Assistant United States Attorney, Brooklyn, New York, on the brief), for Appellant.
ABRAHAM L. CLOTT, The Legal Aid Society, Federal Defender Division, Appeals Bureau, New York, New York, for Defendant-Appellee.
Before: FEINBERG, KEARSE, and SACK, Circuit Judges.
The United States appeals from so much of a judgment of conviction entered in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Charles P. Sifton, then-Chief Judge, as sentenced defendant Ronald Sentamu below the range ofimprisonment prescribed by the Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines"). Sentamu, a citizen of Uganda, was convicted, following his plea of guilty, of importing heroin into the United States, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §952(a) (1994), and id. §960(b)(3) (Supp. III 1997). After various adjustments not at issue on this appeal, the Guidelines imprisonment range applicable to him for thatoffense was 30-37 months. Over the government's objection, the district court departed from thatrange and imposed a prison term of 27 months, ruling thatSentamu's consent to removal from the United States atthe conclusion of his incarceration, without further proceedings, provided unusual assistance to the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") in the administration of justice. On appeal, the government contends thatbecause Sentamu proffered no colorable defense to removal, the downward departure was contrary to this Court's decision in United States v. Galvez-Falconi, 174 F.3d 255 (2d Cir. 1999), and was not authorized. For the reasons thatfollow, we agree, and we vacate the judgment and remand for resentencing within the Guidelines.
In June 1998, Sentamu arrived atJohn F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight from Germany and was subjected to a routine customs examination. During the examination, a customs inspector found Sentamu to be nervous and noticed thathis shoes seemed unusually thick. A probe of the shoes revealed approximately 490 grams of heroin. Sentamu was charged with possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B)(i) (1994), and with importation, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§952(a), 960(a)(1), and 960(b)(2)(A) (1994).
Pursuant to a July 28, 1998 plea agreement, Sentamu pleaded guilty to importation in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§952(a) and 960(b)(3); the distribution count was to be dismissed. In October 1998, Sentamu also entered into a stipulation with the INS permitting his removal from the United States, atthe conclusion of his imprisonment, without a hearing or process of any sort. A removal order for Sentamu was issued, pursuant to that stipulation, prior to the scheduled date for his sentencing.
A. The Sentencing Dispute
According to the Guidelines drug quantity table, Sentamu's base offense level was 28. The presentence report ("PSR") on Sentamu recommended a number of reductions for such factors as acceptance of responsibility and minimal role in the offense, and arrived ata total offense level of 19. Given Sentamu's criminal history category of I, the range of imprisonment prescribed by the Guidelines was 30-37 months. Sentamu asked the district court to depart downward one step from thatrange because of his "voluntar[y] agree[ment] to be deported from the United States," and, in any event, to take into consideration his "immaturity" and acceptance of responsibility in determining atwhich end of the Guidelines range to sentence him. (Status Conference Transcript, November 4, 1998, at 2, 3.)
The government opposed the requested departure for Sentamu's agreement to deportation. Although in 1996 the United States Attorneys for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York ("US Attorneys") had adopted a policy of supporting one-step downward departures under §5K2.0 of the Guidelines for deportable alien defendants who pleaded guilty and consented to deportation as part of their plea agreements ("1996 policy"), the government pointed out, in opposing such a departure for Sentamu, thatin July 1998 the US Attorneys had given notice thatthey were discontinuing the 1996 policy. The US Attorneys' joint July 1998 letter, addressed to the then-Chief Judges of both Districts, explained thatthe 1996 policy of supporting such departures had been instituted "on a trial basis" and thatthe policy was being discontinued because
stipulating to deportation itself provides a significant benefit to an alien defendant and ... further incentives, such as a reduction in the defendant's criminal sentence, are not warranted,
(Letter from Zachary W. Carter and Mary Jo White to then-Chief Judge Charles P. Sifton and then-Chief Judge Thomas P. Griesa, dated July 10, 1998, at 2);
the administrative burden of deportation without stipulation has been substantially reduced for certain classes of aliens by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996,... with the result thatthe benefits to the government of stipulated deportation are reduced,
the practice of agreeing to recommend downward departures for stipulated deportation has created unfair disparities among similarly situated defendants,
the only circuit court to consider the issue has concluded thatsuch departures are not authorized by Section 5K2.0 of the Sentencing Guidelines. See United States v. Clase-Espinal, 115 F.3d 1054 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 384 (1997),
id. See generally United States v. Galvez-Falconi, 174 F.3d at 259 (discussing the Justice Department's authorization of the 1996 policy and the reasons for the policy's termination); United States v. Montez-Gaviria, 163 F.3d 697, 704-05 (2d Cir. 1998) (same). The district court asked Sentamu and the government to submit briefs on the question of whether a departure in recognition of a defendant's consent to deportation was permissible in general and warranted here.
Sentamu submitted a letter brief arguing thatthe US Attorneys' 1996 policy had been introduced to effectuate Congress's directive, see 8 U.S.C. §1228(a)(1) (Supp. III 1997), that"the Executive Branch ... take steps to ensure thataliens convicted of certain crimes are deported as soon as practicable after completing their prison terms." (Letter from Legal Aid Society Attorney Douglas G. Morris to then-Chief Judge Charles P. Sifton dated November 24, 1998 ("Sentamu Letter"), at2.) Sentamu argued thatthe INS "continues to face problems in meeting the Congressional mandate to promptly process deportable alien inmates" and that"the INS continues to derive substantial assistance from a defendant's voluntary agreement to be deported." (Id. at1.) The brief attached an October 16, 1998 report from the United States General Accounting Office to the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, entitled "CRIMINAL ALIENS [] INS' Efforts to Remove Imprisoned Aliens Continue to Need Improvement." The report stated thatthe INS remained in arrears in achieving the expeditious removal of deportable criminal aliens, including aggravated felons.
The government submitted a letter brief arguing, inter alia, thatdownward departures for a defendant's consent to deportation are not authorized by the Guidelines, because a "stipulation to deportation by an aggravated felon is neither special nor unusual in kind or degree." (Letter from Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan E. Davis to then-Chief Judge Charles P. Sifton dated December 23, 1998 ("Government Letter"), at5-6.) The government also argued thatthe INS does not materially benefit from a convicted alien's consent to deportation, because "[i]mmigration laws enacted in 1996 have eliminated substantially all of the administrative and judicial burdens thata criminal alien opposing deportation could previously oblige the[INS] to shoulder." (Id. at2.) With respect to its lowered burdens, the government cited in particular the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), P.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (April 24, 1996), and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 ("IIRIRA"), P.L. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 30, 1996). It pointed out thatAEDPA "repealed the provisions of 8 U.S.C. §1105a thatauthorized judicial review of orders of deportation for many categories of aliens convicted of a crime, including all defendants convicted of aggravated felonies, narcotics offenses or firearms offenses," and thatIIRIRA expanded the definition of "aggravated felon" to include most aliens convicted of felonies, and narrowed the scope of habeas corpus review for alien felons facing deportation. (Government Letter at4.) IIRIRA also authorized "administrative reinstatement of prior deportation orders..., 8 U.S.C.§1231, thus permitting summary deportation of aliens previously deported and eliminating the need for new deportation proceedings." (Government Letter at4.) The government concluded that"the deportation reforms have created a system in which the INS's burdens are far less onerous with respect to the greatmajority of deportable inmates, including defendant." (Id. at4-5.)
B. The Decision To Depart
In an unpublished Memorandum and Order filed on April 14, 1999 ("Opinion"), the district court granted Sentamu's motion for a one-step downward departure in recognition of his consent to deportation. The court began by noting tha