Summary
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Luis Francisco Corona-Montano’s 71-month sentence for conspiracy to transport aliens and transporting aliens. The court held that U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(4), which provides a four-level enhancement for transporting an unaccompanied minor, does not impose a scienter or foreseeability requirement. The court concluded that the enhancement is a strict-liability sentencing enhancement.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(4) requires the defendant to know that the transported passenger was a minor.
- Whether the enhancement requires a foreseeability analysis concerning the minor's presence.
Holdings
- U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(4) is a strict-liability sentencing enhancement and does not require proof that the defendant knew or had reason to know that the transported person was a minor.
- A foreseeability requirement does not apply to Corona-Montano's transportation-of-a-minor enhancement because the enhancement concerns his own acts and contains no foreseeability language.
Key quotations
“Holding that the Sentencing Guidelines do not impose a scienter requirement for the transportation of a minor, we hereby AFFIRM the district court’s order imposing Corona-Montano’s sentence.” (at 3)
“For the foregoing reasons, the district court did not err in finding that § 2L1.1(b)(4) is a strict liability sentencing enhancement.” (at 8)
Factual background
Officers observed suspected undocumented persons enter Corona-Montano's vehicle near Fort Hancock, Texas, and pursued the vehicle. Two passengers exited while the vehicle was moving, including a female undocumented immigrant later determined to be an unaccompanied minor. After Corona-Montano pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport aliens and transporting aliens, the presentence report recommended, and the district court imposed, a four-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(4).
Procedural history
Corona-Montano was indicted in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, pleaded guilty to both counts without a plea agreement, and objected to the four-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(4) on the ground that he did not know the passenger was a minor. The district court rejected the objection, imposed a 71-month prison sentence and three years of supervised release, and Corona-Montano timely appealed.