Opinion ID: 2777576
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Terms of the Order of Remand

Text: 8 Case: 14-10230 Date Filed: 02/06/2015 Page: 9 of 12 The only dispute between the parties is how we should couch our order of remand. The government contends that our limited remand of this case should direct the district court to vacate its determination that a 16-level enhancement applies pursuant to § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) and instead to apply an 8-level enhancement for a prior aggravated felony, pursuant to § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C), based on Defendant’s prior Florida conviction for a violation of § 790.19. Significantly, as the government notes, Defendant not only conceded at the original sentencing that this 8-level enhancement should apply, but he explicitly requested that enhancement in lieu of the 16-level enhancement recommended by the PSR. Further, the government explains why the 8-level enhancement is warranted here. Under § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C), the offense level of a defendant convicted of illegal reentry shall be enhanced by 8 levels if he has previously been convicted of an aggravated felony. The commentary to this section indicates that an aggravated felony is defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(43). USSG §2L1.2, comment. (n.3(A)). Section 1101(a)(43) contains a long list of offenses that constitute an aggravated felony. It includes “a crime of violence” as an aggravated felony and provides that one should look to 18 U.S.C. § 16 for the definition of a crime of violence. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F). Title 18 U.S.C. § 16 provides that a crime of violence is (a) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of 9 Case: 14-10230 Date Filed: 02/06/2015 Page: 10 of 12 another or (b) any other offense that is a felony, and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense. Id. Notably, while a “crime of violence” as set out in § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii), requires that the act of physical force be directed against “the person of another,” 18 U.S.C. §16 provides a broader definition of the target of the physical force, indicating that the latter need only be directed against the person “or property” of another. Id. There is no question that Defendant’s conviction for § 790.19 meets the definition of an aggravated felony, as described above. The criminal information for this particular conviction indicated that the defendant had thrown a missile “at, within, or into a vehicle . . . which at the time was being used or occupied by Jesus Reyes.” Whether or not Defendant’s physical force was directed toward the person of another, it certainly was directed at the property of another, which is all that is required for it to constitute a crime of violence for purposes of aggravated felony status. Indeed, in explicitly requesting that the district court impose the 8-level enhancement for an aggravated felony, instead of the 16-level enhancement for a crime of violence, defense counsel exhaustively explained at sentencing why this 8-level enhancement was appropriate in this case. In response now to the government’s argument that, on remand, the district court should be directed to 10 Case: 14-10230 Date Filed: 02/06/2015 Page: 11 of 12 impose the 8-level enhancement for this prior conviction, Defendant does not deny that he had requested imposition of this 8-level enhancement at his original sentencing. Nor does he deny that imposition of that enhancement is appropriate and that he had so stipulated at the sentencing hearing. Finally, he offers no reasons why the enhancement should not be applied. Instead, with no effort to counter the government’s argument, he simply asks that this Court not require the district court to apply the 8-level enhancement at the resentencing hearing following remand. We find the government’s request meritorious. The defendant stipulated below that the 8-level enhancement should apply and he has offered no argument why his reasoning in support of that stipulation is no longer valid. We therefore vacate Defendant’s sentence and remand to the district court for the limited purpose of the latter (1) vacating its determination that a 16-level enhancement for a prior crime of violence should apply, and instead imposing an 8-level enhancement for an aggravated felony, pursuant to § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C), and (2) resentencing the Defendant in light of a correctly-calculated advisory Guidelines range of 33-41 months. See United States v. Martinez, 606 F.3d 1303, 1304 (11th Cir. 2010) (28 U.S.C. § 2106 grants a circuit court broad discretion to fashion an appropriate mandate on remand after the vacatur of a sentence in a criminal case). In resentencing Defendant, the district court shall consider all appropriate 18 11 Case: 14-10230 Date Filed: 02/06/2015 Page: 12 of 12 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors in determining a reasonable sentence. Assuming no plea agreement to the contrary, either party is free to advocate for a departure or variance above or below the correctly-calculated Guidelines range. VACATED AND REMANDED. 12