Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Israel GUERRA GONZALEZ, Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2008-12-18
Citations: 303 F. App'x 814
Docket Number: No. 08-13794
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Israel GUERRA GONZALEZ, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 303
Pages: 814–815

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Israel GUERRA GONZALEZ, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 08-13794
Non-Argument Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.
Dec. 18, 2008.
Jonathan D. Colan, Anne R. Schultz, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Miami, FL, Emily M. Smachetti, Miami, FL, for PlaintiffAppellee.
Stewart Glenn Abrams, Federal Public Defender, Miami, FL, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before BLACK, BARKETT and PRYOR, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
Israel Guerra Gonzalez appeals his sentence of 24 months of imprisonment for conspiring to induce aliens to enter the United States and unauthorized entry into Cuban territorial waters. 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(l)(A)(v)(I); 50 U.S.C. § 192. Guerra Gonzalez challenges the three-level enhancement of his sentence for creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury. We affirm.
We review de novo the application of the risk or death or serious injury enhancement to a sentence. United States v. Rodriguez-Lopez, 363 F.3d 1134, 1137 (11th Cir.2004). The decision that Guerra Gonzalez created a risk of death or serious injury to the aliens he transported is a factual finding that we review for clear error. Id. A district court may enhance a sentence by three levels if the defendant created, either intentionally or recklessly, a substantial risk of death or serious injury to the illegal aliens who he smuggled or transported and the total offense level is less than eighteen. United States Sen tencing Guidelines § 2Ll.l(b)(6) (Nov. 1997). The commentary to section 2L 1.1(b)(6) "emphasizes that [the] provision applies to an array of factual scenarios and should be applied flexiblyf.]" Rodriguez-Lopez, 368 F.3d at 1138; U.S.S.G. § 2Ll.l(b)(6) cmt. n. 5 ("[r]eckless conduct to which the adjustment from subsection (b)(6) applies includes a wide variety of conduct").
The district court did not clearly err when it found that Guerra Gonzalez created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury. Guerra Gonzalez attempted to smuggle twelve aliens from Cuba to the Florida keys on a boat equipped with only five life vests. The aliens would have in all likelihood died or suffered serious injuries if they had fallen overboard in the open seas without a flotation device. The application of the enhancement is consistent with the instruction to apply the enhancement flexibly.
Guerra Gonzalez's sentence is AFFIRMED.