United States v. Victor Ramirez-Martinez
Opinion
Opinion
Trott, J.
Due to some creative lawyering, this seemingly run-of-the-mill alien smuggling case requires us to confront a melange of novel legal issues.
A jury convicted Defendant-Appellant Victor Ramirez-Martinez (“Ramirez”) of two counts of attempting to transport and transporting undocumented aliens, in violation of 8 U.S.C § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) (2000), and one count of aiding and abetting bringing to the United States an undocumented alien for financial gain, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(2)(B)(ii) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (2000). The district court, District Judge Barry T. Moskowitz, sentenced Ramirez to forty-four months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Launching numerous challenges, Ramirez appeals his three convictions and his sentence. We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (2000) and 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (2000). For the reasons expressed below, we affirm in part and reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Background
A. Offense Conduct
On March 21, 2000, agents from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”), responding to a call, discovered Ramirez and twenty-three others in…