United States v. Miguel Valedon

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Miguel Valedon (nka Luis Rodriguez Ortega) pleaded guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement that was not binding on the district court, to one count of knowingly possessing a false identification document with intent to use it to defraud the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028 (a)(4), and three counts of knowingly presenting false tax returns to the United States, knowing them to be fraudulent, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 287 and 2. Valedon and others used false identification documents to open mailboxes in California and Illinois, identified certain Puerto Rican citizens as authorized mail recipients at those boxes, submitted false federal income tax returns in the names of those persons claiming earned income credits, and received the refunds at the mailboxes. Valedon now challenges his 57-month sentence as improperly enhanced by the “intended loss” and “sophisticated means” of the entire scheme in which he was involved and as substantively unreasonable. He also challenges his conviction, because the district court advised him that his conviction “could” have immigration consequences, not that such consequences were mandatory-

We have jurisdiction…