United States v. Miguel Rodriguez-Castro

ORDER

The opinion filed May 10, 1990, is hereby WITHDRAWN. The opinion submitted herewith shall be filed in its stead.

OPINION

Miguel Rodriguez-Castro challenges the sentence imposed upon him after he pled guilty to transportation of an undocumented alien, a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(1)(B). Rodriguez-Castro argues that his 54-month prison term is outside the range of the applicable Sentencing Guideline (“the guidelines”) and is unreasonable. He further contends that his sentence is illegal because the combination of his terms of imprisonment and supervised release exceeds the statutory maximum. Although we agree with most of the district court’s reasoning, we must remand on the basis that the court failed to adequately explain the extent of its departure.

I

On January 2, 1988, border patrol agents saw a pickup truck stop near the United States-Mexico border and turn off its lights. As the agents watched, several people ran from the border and entered the truck which then proceeded west, still with its lights off. The agents activated their red lights and attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver, later identified as Rodriguez-Castro, refused to yield. Instead, he…