Opinion ID: 2925963
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Presentence Dispute

Text: A debate about Mendez's appropriate sentencing range arose prior to the sentencing hearing with respect to Counts 1 and 2.2 All involved (probation and parties) agreed that Counts 1 and 2 should be grouped, meaning that the governing offense level would be the the highest offense level of the counts in the Group. USSG § 3D1.3(a). The question was whether Count 1 or 2 supplied the highest offense level. The probation office thought Count 1 (conspiracy to commit identity fraud) did. The computation for Count 1, as evidenced by the PSR, went as follows. The relevant guidelines 2 There was no controversy surrounding the aggravated identity theft counts (Counts 22, 23, 26). The parties agreed that a mandatory two-year term for those counts was to run consecutive to any sentences on Counts 1 and 2 per 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1) and USSG § 2B1.6. Mendez does not appeal that aspect of his sentence. - 4 - provision, USSG § 2L2.1(a), provided a base offense level of 11. That provision calls for the offense level to be increased by various levels based on the number of documents involved. USSG § 2L2.1(b)(2). Positing that the offense here involved 100 or more documents, the PSR increased Mendez's base offense level by 9. It then recommended a 3-level enhancement because Mendez was a manager or supervisor in a criminal activity involving five plus participants pursuant to USSG § 3B1.1(b). Assuming a 2-level decrease for acceptance of responsibility under USSG § 3E1.1(a), the PSR projected the total offense level of 21 for Count 1. Given Mendez's criminal history, this yielded a guideline sentencing range of 37 to 46 months on Counts 1 and 2. Mendez lodged no objection to the PSR. The government, however, took exception. The government filed a sentencing memorandum, which Mendez also did not object to, in which it argued that Count 2 (conspiracy to encourage aliens to reside in the United States) provided the higher offense level. We start with the government's math and move on to its rationale. The government began with a base offense level of 12, as provided by USSG § 2L1.1(a)(3). Like the guideline pertinent to Count 1 (§ 2L2.1), this provision called for the offense level to be increased by various levels in certain circumstances. However, the determining factor was not the number of documents involved but rather the number of aliens induced or harbored. Id. § - 5 - 2L1.1(b)(2). Suggesting that there were sufficient facts to demonstrate that Mendez had induced or harbored 100 or more aliens, the government applied a 9-level enhancement. Id. § 2L1.1(b)(2)(C). Like the PSR, the government added a 3-level enhancement for Mendez's supervisory role and a 2-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. This placed the offense level for Count 2 at 22 (one level higher than Count 1), which would mean Mendez faced a guideline sentencing range of 41 to 51 months on Counts 1 and 2. Given the mandatory sentence of 24 months on the remaining counts, the ultimate range was 65 to 75 months with the government recommending the low end. For our purposes, the important part of the government's calculus is the 9-level enhancement it proposed. Basically (and we will say more on the particular theories in a bit) the government thought that Mendez had not only trafficked 100 documents, but had also induced or harbored 100 aliens, therefore justifying the enhancement on Count 2. According to the sentencing memorandum, this is why. The government, which suggested that the whole conspiracy involved over 1,500 trafficked identities, noted that some of Mendez's co-defendants had admitted in their plea agreements that they had worked with Mendez, the conspiracy involved over 100 documents, and the documents were being trafficked to undocumented aliens. One particular co-defendant, Pena, admitted that he was involved in trafficking at least 70 - 6 - documents, which had been sent to him by Mendez, to undocumented aliens in Massachusetts. The government also pointed out that on the day of Mendez's arrest, another 20 identities were found in his home presumably slated for more undocumented aliens. Furthermore, text messages intercepted from Mendez's phone during a 4-month period contained approximately 60 identities that he was trafficking. The government concluded that [e]xtrapolating over the two-year conspiracy, this shows that well over 100 identities were involved in this case. The government thought the PSR further supported its position. It reasoned that because the PSR had found that 100 or more documents had been involved, warranting the 9-level enhancement for Count 1 under § 2L2.1, it necessarily followed that over 100 document sets pertaining to over 100 aliens were involved. It based this claim on Note 2 of § 2L2.1, which (at least according to the government) reads that 'one document' is a 'set of documents intended for use by a single person.'3 3 The government selectively quotes and then contorts the note's language. In its entirety, it provides: Where it is established that multiple documents are part of a set of documents intended for use by a single person, treat the set as one document. USSG § 2L2.1, note 2. The actual language makes the government's theory suspect. There is no indication that probation found such a thing established and, therefore, was using the term document in the manner suggested by the note. Probation simply could have meant 100 single documents, indeed the PSR (and indictment) defined unlawful documents and unlawful document sets differently. - 7 - The probation office responded to the government in an addendum to the PSR. It stood by its position that Count 1 provided the higher offense level, indicating that the office was not convinced that [Mendez] indeed harbored or induced over 100 aliens.