United States v. Aguilar

133 F. Supp. 3d 468, 2015 WL 4774507
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedAugust 14, 2015
DocketNo. 14-CR-0668
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 133 F. Supp. 3d 468 (United States v. Aguilar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Aguilar, 133 F. Supp. 3d 468, 2015 WL 4774507 (E.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

Statement of Reasons for Sentence Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c)(2)

JACK B. WEINSTEIN, Senior District Judge:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction.470

II. Underlying Charge and Conviction.471

A. Illegal Activity. 471

B. Arrest on Instant Charge.471

C. Guilty Plea.'..471

D. Sentence.472

III. Context: Parental Detention and Deportation.472

A. Statistics.472

1. National.472
2. New York..■.475

B. Effects on Children .:.476

[470]*4701. Psychological.476

2. Broken Families.479
3. Poverty and Its Attendant Risks .480

IV. Law.'.480

A. Imposition of Sentence.480

B. Offense Level, Category, and Sentencing Guidelines Range.481

C. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) Considerations.481

V. Sentence.482

VI. Conclusion.482

I. Introduction

Defendant Diaz Aguilar entered this country from Mexico when he was twenty years old. He met his wife here two years later. Neither has papers. They had children here. The children are United States citizens. He was consistently employed here for fifteen years up until his arrest. He paid his income taxes here regularly. No criminal conduct other than this cause of conviction has been suggested. The crime charged appears to be a deviation from an otherwise legal way of life.

He has pleaded guilty to assisting in document forgery. The penalty of deportation is almost inextricably linked to this criminal conviction, with a corresponding effective restriction from ever re-entering this country. See United States v. Chin Chong, No. 13-CR-570, 2014 WL 4773978, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2014) (“The ‘drastic measure’ of deportation or removal ... is now virtually inevitable [as a result of] changes to our immigration law[s].” (quoting Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356, 360, 130 S.Ct. 1473, 176 L.Ed.2d 284 (2010))). The dissolution of his family unit is a near certainty if general practice is followed by immigration authorities. The facts of this case lead to a recommendation of this court that the general practice of deportation not be followed.

A key role of a sentencing court is to reduce criminogenic factors present in society. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(B) (there is a “need for the sentence imposed ... to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct”); see also Craig Haney, Evolving Standards of Decency: Advancing the Nature and Logic of Capital Mitigation, 36 Hofstra L.Rev. 835, 857 (2008) (“[Research confirms that traumas experienced earlier in someone’s life — whether caused by structural forces like poverty and ... parental ... neglect — can be deeply ‘crimi-nogenic’ (that is, persons exposed to them have a higher probability of subsequently engaging in crime).”). Its corollary responsibility is to ensure that its actions not create catalysts for criminal conduct by family members. The retributive collateral punishment of deportation that accompanies the vast majority of criminal convictions of non-U.S. citizens, see Chin Chong, 2014 WL 4773978, at *3, may create such a catalyst, see infra Part III.

This memorandum sets forth this court’s policy regarding the issuance of recommendations to immigration judges adjudicating deportation proceedings of nonviolent noncitizens who have been found guilty of an illegal activity.

“Discretion remains an indispensable mitigating safety valve for the law’s sometimes destructive and illogical effects.” Id. at *4. Where credible evidence has been proffered demonstrating that deportation is likely, to unreasonably traumatize United States-born children of a deportable criminal defendant, this court [471]*471will issue a “non-deportation” recommendation to the immigration judge; where the defendant held a full-time job prior to his arrest, a work-release recommendation from detention will also be issued. See United States v. G.L., 305 F.R.D. 47, 48 (E.D.N.Y.2015) (finding special circumstances may require deviation from general sentencing practice); cf. United States v. Phillips, No. 13-CR-631, 120 F.Supp.3d 263, 275-76, 2015 WL 4629217, at *11 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2015) (dismissing illegal reentry indictment premised on defendant’s prior deportation resulting from aggravated felony conviction, and taking “particular” note of defendant’s testimony and letters provided by his family “stating that deporting him would have a substantial negative effect on his children”); Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 120 S.Ct. 2054, 2060, 147 L.Ed.2d 49 (2000) (“[T]he interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children — is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this [nation].”).

II. Underlying Charge and Conviction

A.Illegal Activity

Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) and the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) witnessed defendant’s direct involvement in the provision of fraudulent documents to a confidential source on eight occasions between March and December 2014. See Presentence Investigation Report ¶¶ 3-31. Although arguably induced by the informant, these were serious crimes.

The first transaction linked to defendant occurred on March 19 of 2014. Id. at ¶ 4. On this day, a confidential source arranged a meeting with defendant to seek a false passport, social security card, and permanent resident card. Id. at ¶¶ 4-5. The source provided defendant with biographical information, photographs, and a $100 down payment. Id. at ¶ 4. Two days later, the documents were exchanged for $1,900; the passport number provided was linked to a passport that had been issued in 2013 and that was reported lost or stolen. Id. at ¶¶ 5-6.

One month later, on April 17, the source met with defendant again. Id. at ¶7. A down payment of $500 was made, and an additional $100 was paid directly to defendant, who allegedly insisted on receiving a cut of the money. Id. Two months later, defendant initiated contact with the source, informing the latter that he had the passport that had been requested in April. Id. at ¶ 8. He told the source that his supplier had additional passports, social security cards, and permanent resident cards available for sale. Id. Five more exchanges took place between defendant and the confidential informant. Id. at ¶¶ 10-31.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Matias Velazquez v. United States
651 F. App'x 620 (Ninth Circuit, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
133 F. Supp. 3d 468, 2015 WL 4774507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-aguilar-nyed-2015.