Opinion ID: 146798
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Proof of Re-entry and Continuous Stay

Text: Next, defendant contends the district court's finding that she re-entered the United States in December 1997 and remained here continuously thereafter is not supported by a preponderance of the evidence. Defendant does not contest the finding that she had reentered by December 1997, but contends the government failed to show that she remained here continuously until her eventual arrest for public intoxication in March 2008, when ICE officials learned of her presence. Defendant contends the record leaves open the possibility that she left the United States in the interim and re-entered again as recently as October 2007. She acknowledges this is a question of fact subject to review only for clear error. Defendant does not dispute that the offense she pleaded guilty to, being found in the United States after illegally reentering following deportation, 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), is a continuing offense, deemed to have commenced on the date of illegal re-entry and continuing to the date of arrest for the offense. See United States v. Are, 498 F.3d 460, 464 (7th Cir.2007); United States v. Hernandez-Gonzalez, 495 F.3d 55, 60-61 (3d Cir.2007). But if her most recent illegal re-entry did not actually occur until October 2007, then she argues the district court's assessment of two criminal history points was improper. That is, the assessment of one point based on her 1994 conviction for solicitation to commit forgery in Maricopa, Arizona, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1(c) would be improper under § 4A1.2(e)(3) because it preceded commencement of this offense by more than ten years. In addition, the criminal history enhancement pursuant to § 4A1.1(e), based on commencement of the offense within two years after release from imprisonment for her 1995 convictions for forgery and assisting a criminal syndicate in Flagstaff, Arizona, would also be improper. To be sure, the factual record of defendant's location after her illegal re-entry in December 1997 is not conclusive. As the district court observed, however, the PSR summary of defendant's numerous contacts with the criminal justice system is strongly suggestive of her continuous presence in the United States from December 1997 onward. There are gaps of time in which defendant managed to avoid recorded contact with law enforcement officials, i.e., from March 1998 to September 2002, and from June 2004 to October 2007. Yet, there is no evidence that defendant returned to Mexico or otherwise departed the United States during this period. Defendant's argument about the possibility of an illegal re-entry more recent than December 1997 is based on unsupported speculation. The information relied on by the district court appears to be reliable, is not materially contested, and supports the finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that defendant illegally re-entered the United States in December 1997 and remained here continuously thereafter until her arrest in March 2008. Defendant has not demonstrated clear error. We therefore uphold the challenged criminal history enhancements.