United States v. Ahmed Ressam

I. Factual Background and Procedural History

As discussed below, our review of a sentence for substan- tive reasonableness is to consider the “totality of the circum- stances” regarding the particular defendant. Gall, 552 U.S. at 51; United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 993 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc). As a result, we will describe in some detail the rele- vant circumstances, the arguments presented to the district court, and the district court’s explanation of the sentence that it imposed.

Ahmed Ressam is an Algerian national. Traveling on a false Moroccan passport issued in the name of Nassar Res- sam, he left Algeria in 1992 and went to France. In 1993 French authorities deported him to Morocco and banned him from returning to France for three years. He was returned to France by Moroccan authorities when it was determined that he was not Moroccan.

In 1994 Ressam arrived at Mirabel Airport in Montreal, Canada, using an illegally altered French passport. When Canadian immigration personnel confronted him, he divulged his true name and applied for refugee status, indicating on his application that he left Algeria in December 1993 after having been arrested and jailed for 15…