United States v. Fredy Reyes

Fredy Oswaldo Gamez Reyes pleaded guilty to six counts of harboring and concealing illegal aliens for financial gain, in violation - of 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(l)(A)(iii) and (aXIXBXi). The district court imposed a within-guidelines sentence of ninety-six months’ imprisonment and a three-year term of supervised release. On appeal, Gamez Reyes claims that the district court erred in applying a two-level sentencing enhancement, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2Ll.l(b)(4), for harboring unaccompanied minor aliens, and a two-level sentencing enhancement, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1 (b) (8) (A), for involuntarily detaining aliens through coercion or threat or in connection with a demand for payment. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a), and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Between May 2008 and March 2011, Gamez Reyes participated in a large-scale alien smuggling operation that smuggled approximately 2,000 aliens annually into the United States and harbored them in stash houses in southern California until they paid a fee. Typically, the aliens paid a portion of the -smuggling fee in their country of origin, and after they arrived in the United States their…