Opinion ID: 775590
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Angwin's Motion to Dismiss Counts One and Three

Text: 49 Angwin also asserts that a defendant may not be found guilty pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 2 (Title 18) on a theory of aiding and abetting a violation of 8 U.S.C. section 1324(a)(2). 5 In Angwin's view, subsection (a)(2) does not subject defendants to aiding and abetting liability, while subsection (a)(1) does expressly impose such liability. A district court's decision regarding whether to dismiss an indictment based on its interpretation of a federal statute is reviewed de novo. See United States v. Hagberg, 207 F.3d 569, 571 (9th Cir. 2000). 50 Subsection (a)(1)(A) provides that a person who, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States, transports within the United States, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, encourages or induces such an alien to enter, or engages in a conspiracy to commit or aids and abets the commission of any of those acts shall be punished according to subsection (a)(1)(B). Subsection (a)(1)(B)(i) provides a maximum term of ten years for: (1) bringing an alien to the United States regardless of whether it is done for commercial purposes; (2) conspiring to commit any of the subsection (a)(1)(A) offenses regardless of whether the conspiracy is performed for commercial purposes; or (3) transporting, harboring, or inducing entry for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain. For non-commercial acts of transporting, harboring, or inducing entry, or for the aiding and abetting of any of the offenses (whether commercial or not), a defendant is subject to a maximum term of five years pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii). 51 Subsection (a)(2) provides that any person who knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has not received prior official authorization to enter the United States brings to or attempts to bring to the United States such alien shall (B) in the case of--(ii) an offense done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain be fined and subject to imprisonment. A first or second violation results in a mandatory minimum sentence of three years and a maximum sentence of ten years, while a third or subsequent violation produces a sentence of not less than five nor more than fifteen years. See 1324(a)(2)(B). Subsection (a)(2) does not expressly impose liability for aiding and abetting a violation of its terms. 52 According to the defendant, the fact that subsection (a)(1) specifically imposes liability for aiding and abetting while subsection (a)(2) does not means that Congress did not intend to impose liability for aiding and abetting under subsection (a)(2) through the general terms of Title 18. Angwin asserts that applying Title 18 to impose aiding and abetting liability under subsection (a)(2) would lead to an inconsistent reading of subsections (a)(1) and (2), permit Title 18 to trump section 1324, and render the aiding and abetting language in subsection (a)(1) surplusage. 53 On its surface, Angwin's interpretation has some appeal, as subsection (a)(1) expressly imposes aiding and abetting liability while subsection (a)(2) does not. On closer examination, however, the defendant's proposed construction of section 1324 is incorrect. The aiding and abetting provision in subsection (a)(1) does not impose aiding and abetting liability where such liability would not otherwise exist; it merely establishes different penalties for aiders and abettors than would result under Title 18 in the absence of the aiding and abetting provision. That subsection (a)(2) does not contain an aiding and abetting provision does not mean that a defendant cannot be held liable for aiding and abetting a violation of that subsection. Instead, that silence means only that Congress did not intend to exclude subsection (a)(2) from the general principle embodied in Title 18 that an aider and abettor can receive the same punishment as a principal. 54 To appreciate the function performed by the aiding and abetting provision in subsection (a)(1), it is necessary to review the role of Title 18 and the legislative history of 8 U.S.C. section 1324. Title 18, section 2 provides: Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal. 18 U.S.C. 2(a). The principle embodied by the general aiding and abetting provision is, to say the least, well-settled. See United States v. Gooding, 25 U.S. 460, 469, 6 L. Ed. 693 (1827). Section 2 of Title 18 has a uniquely broad scope; it typically applies to any criminal statute unless Congress specifically carves out an exception that precludes aiding and abetting liability. See United States v. Armstrong, 909 F.2d 1238, 1241 (9th Cir. 1990) (Aiding and abetting is implied in every federal indictment for a substantive offense.). 55 The legislative history of 8 U.S.C. section 1324 is also instructive. Congress added the language of subsection (a)(2)(B)(ii) regarding smuggling performed for financial gain in section 112 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). See Pub. L. No. 99-603, 112, 100 Stat. 3359 (1986) (codified at 8 U.S.C. 1324) (page numbers unavailable). In section 203 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), Congress inserted the aiding and abetting language of subsection (a)(1)(A)(v)(II), amended the penalty provisions in subsection (a)(1)(B) accordingly, added the three-year mandatory minimum sentence for first and second violations of subsection (a)(2)(B)(ii), and imposed five-year minimum and fifteen-year maximum sentences for third and subsequent violations. See Pub. L. No. 104-208, 203, 110 Stat. 3009, at 3009-565 to 3009-567 (1996) (codified at 8 U.S.C. 1324). Prior to IRCA, section 1324 did not include any additional punishment for smuggling performed for financial gain, did not explicitly delineate a penalty for aiding and abetting smuggling offenses, and established a maximum sentence of five years for each alien brought into the United States. See 1324, Historical and Statutory Notes, 1986 Amendments. 56 After IRCA but before IIRIRA, then, a defendant convicted of bringing an alien to the United States under subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) (non-commercial) or subsection (a)(2)(B)(ii) (commercial) could be imprisoned for ten years, while a defendant convicted of transporting, harboring, or inducing the entry of an alien under subsections (a)(1)(A)(ii)-(iv), whether such acts were done for commercial purposes or not, was subject to a five-year maximum sentence. Because subsection (a)(1) did not yet include the aiding and abetting provision, a defendant who aided and abetted any of the above offenses could receive the same sentence as a principal in accordance with Title 18. For example, a defendant convicted of transporting an alien within the United States for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain was subject to a five-year maximum term, and an aider and abettor of that defendant also faced a five-year maximum sentence. 57 After IIRIRA, however, the penalties facing an aider and abettor of certain offenses under subsection (a)(1) changed relative to those of a principal. IIRIRA increases the penalties for commercial alien smuggling under both subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2). Under subsection (a)(1), a defendant who transports, harbors, or induces entry for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain is subject to a ten-year maximum sentence rather than the five-year maximum under IRCA. See 1324(a)(1)(B)(i). Absent subsection (a)(1)(A)(v)(II), Title 18 would operate to impose on an aider and abettor a ten-year maximum term--the same term a principal would receive--for aiding and abetting those offenses. Given the aiding and abetting provision in subsection (a)(1)(A)(v)(II) and the penalty provisions in subsection (a)(1)(B), however, a defendant who aids or abets a violation of those provisions is only subject to a five-year maximum term, even if the defendant aided and abetted a violation for commercial gain. See 1324(a)(1)(B)(ii). 58 In the example cited supra, for instance, a defendant convicted of transporting an alien within the United States for the purpose of commercial advantage is subject to a ten-year maximum term. But for subsection (a)(1)(A)(v)(II), a defendant who aided and abetted that offense would also face a ten-year maximum term. Under the aiding and abetting provision, however, a defendant who aids and abets the offense only faces a five-year maximum sentence. 59 Thus, IIRIRA's amendments do not operate to impose aiding and abetting liability where such liability does not otherwise exist. Given the general presumption of Title 18, a defendant could always have been found guilty of aiding and abetting the offenses in subsection (a)(1), even before IIRIRA. Instead, the addition of the aiding and abetting provision in subsection (a)(1)(A)(v)(II) and the corresponding adjustments to the penalty provisions in subsection (a)(1)(B) operate to impose lesser penalties for aiders and abettors of certain offenses than they would normally receive under Title 18. In other words, the aiding and abetting language in subsection (a)(1) creates an exception to the general rule established by Title 18. 60 As for subsection (a)(2), IIRIRA increases the penalties facing defendants who bring an alien to the country for commercial purposes but does not provide different penalties for aiders and abettors. Defendants who bring an alien to the United States for commercial advantage or private financial gain are no longer merely subject to a ten-year maximum sentence; they are also subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of three years for first or second violations and a five-to fifteen-year term for third or subsequent violations. Congress did not insert in subsection (a)(2) a provision analogous to subsection (a)(1)(A)(v)(II) that would impose lesser penalties for aiders and abettors. Congress's failure to include such an exception to Title 18 under subsection (a)(2) at the same time that Congress created an exception to Title 18 under subsection (a)(1) and at the same time that Congress increased the penalties under subsection (a)(2) suggests that Congress did not intend to impose differential penalties for aiders and abettors under subsection (a)(2). In other words, subsection (a)(1) represents an exception to the general rule under Title 18 that aiders and abettors are treated the same as principals, while subsection (a)(2) simply applies Title 18 in its typical fashion. The silence in subsection (a)(2) regarding aiding and abetting liability means that Congress did not want the special exception in subsection (a)(1) to apply to subsection (a)(2). A defendant can thus be liable as an aider and abettor under subsection (a)(2) and can receive the same punishment--including the mandatory minimum sentences--that a principal would receive. 61 That construction of the statute is also consistent with Congress's overall purpose in enacting subsection (a)(2). Both IRCA and IIRIRA were designed to increase penalties for those who bring aliens to the United States for commercial purposes. IRCA was intended to expand the scope of section 1324, allowing it to reach employers and other smuggling activity and increasing penalties for smuggling performed for financial gain. See United States v. Kim, 193 F.3d 567, 573-74 (2d Cir. 1999). Congress regarded IRCA's modifications as essential in light of recent judicial opinions which have interpreted existing law as not applying to certain activities that clearly are prejudicial to the interests of the United States. H.R. Rep. No. 99-628(I) (1986), reprinted in 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5649, 1986 WL 31950 (Leg. Hist.) (page numbers unavailable) (discussing United States v. Anaya, 509 F. Supp. 289 (S.D. Fla. 1980) (en banc), aff'd on other grounds sub nom. United States v. Zayas Morales, 685 F.2d 1272 (11th Cir. 1982)). Congress enacted IRCA to make it clear that Congress regarded smuggling performed for commercial gain as particularly worthy of punishment. See H.R. Rep. No. 99-628(I) (characterizing the commission of an offense for commercial gain as an aggravating circumstance[] that warranted a higher maximum sentence). The legislative history of IIRIRA indicates that subsection (a)(1)(A)(v)'s language was designed to specify criminal penalties for those who engage in a conspiracy to violate alien smuggling, inducement, harboring, and transportation prohibitions, and for those who aid and abet such crimes. H.R. Rep. No. 104-828 (1996), 1996 WL 563320 (Leg. Hist.) (page numbers unavailable) (emphasis added). A court should interpret statutes in a manner consistent with the legislature's overall intent. See SEC v. C.M. Joiner Leasing Corp., 320 U.S. 344, 350-51, 88 L. Ed. 88, 64 S. Ct. 120 (1943). 62 Thus, given the meaning of section 1324 and Congress's intent in enacting IRCA and IIRIRA, subsection (a)(2) must be interpreted to permit aiding and abetting liability and to subject those found guilty of aiding and abetting a violation of that subsection to the same sentences that a principal would receive. The aiding and abetting provision and the corresponding penalty provisions in subsection (a)(1) create an exception to the general rule established by Title 18. The absence of any similar exception in subsection (a)(2) means that Congress did not intend to exclude aiding and abetting liability for offenses under that subsection. Angwin's conviction under subsection (a)(2) as an aider and abettor was therefore permissible.