United States v. Aquileo Melchor-Zaragoza, United States of America v. Ignacio Garcia-Rebollar

This appeal raises a question of first impression in this circuit: When a defendant is convicted of a conspiracy involving multiple victims, is it proper for the sentencing court to divide the conspiracy conviction into separate count groups based on the number of victims under U.S.S.G. §§ lB1.2(d) and 3D1.2? We answer this question in the affirmative. We also conclude that the preponderance of the evidence standard applied to the court’s determination of how many victims there were, and that this standard was satisfied. Thus, we affirm this aspect of Melehor-Zaragoza’s (“Melchor’s”) sentence.

I.

In a superseding indictment filed on June 26, 2001, Melchor and three other individuals were charged with (1) conspiracy to commit hostage taking ( 18 U.S.C. §§ 1203 and 371); (2) hostage taking ( 18 U.S.C. § 1203 ); (3) conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens ( 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324 (a)(l)(A)(iii) and (a)(l)(A)(v)(I)); (4) harboring illegal aliens ( 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(l)(A)(iii)); (5) possession or use of a firearm in a crime of violence ( 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c)); and (6) reentry after deportation ( 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a) enhanced by (b)(1)).

The indictment alleged that on or about March 23, 2000,…