United States v. Leigh Christina Miguel, United States of America v. Norman Jeremiah Johnson

On a hot summer day in July 2002, with temperatures over 100 degrees, Leigh Miguel and her uncle, Norman Johnson, were caught smuggling a group of five Mexican children and young adults in a four-door Dodge Stratus near Tucson, Arizona. Miguel had been pulled over by two sheriffs deputies who may have mistakenly believed the car’s registration had expired. The five illegal immigrants, all from the same family and whose ages ranged from 4 to 19 years old, were lying unrestrained on the folded-down back seat and in the connecting trunk. One of the children, a five-year-old boy, was unconscious and unresponsive when first discovered. The defendants pled guilty to conspiring to transport illegal aliens, transporting illegal aliens for financial gain and placing in jeopardy the lives of illegal aliens. At sentencing, the district court enhanced Miguel’s and Johnson’s sentences based on three criteria: (1) intentionally or recklessly creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily harm under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (“U.S.S.G.”) § 2L1.1(b)(5) (2002); (2) actual bodily injury to the five-year-old boy under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(6) (2002); and (3) vulnerability of the…