United States v. Ricardo Eloi

652 F. App'x 786
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJune 10, 2016
Docket14-15333
StatusUnpublished

This text of 652 F. App'x 786 (United States v. Ricardo Eloi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Ricardo Eloi, 652 F. App'x 786 (11th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

*788 PER CURIAM:

On the evening of May 15, 2013, Eric Rivera was sitting in a parked car in front of his mother’s house. Ricardo Eloi apr proached the car, pulled out a gun, and ordered Rivera out of the vehicle. After taking Rivera’s phone, Ricardo Eloi told him to open the trunk. As Rivera complied, Ricardo Eloi’s fellow assailants, Stanley Fleurant and Ricky Eloi, 1 - came out of the shadows. Together, the three men attempted to push Rivera into the trunk of his car. When Rivera resisted and pleaded to be let go in exchange for his money and other personal items, Ricky Eloi hit him over the head with a gun and one of the three said, “just shoot him already.” As Ricardo Rivera heard the click of a gun, the police arrived and his assailants fled. The police quickly apprehended all three in the surrounding neighborhood and recovered the gun used in the attack.

For their involvement in the May 15 incident, Fleurant and Ricardo Eloi were charged with attempted carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). 2 Ricardo Eloi pleaded guilty to both counts. Fleurant proceeded to trial. At the close of the government’s case-in-chief, Fleurant moved for a judgment of acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction for attempted carjacking. The district court denied that motion and the jury found him guilty of both counts. The district court imposed consecutive sentences on Fleurant of 108 months for attempted carjacking' and 84 months for brandishing a firearm. It imposed consecutive sentences on Ricardo Eloi of 180 months for attempted carjacking and 84 months for brandishing a firearm.

Fleurant and Ricardo Eloi both appealed. Fleurant challenges his conviction and sentence, while Ricardo Eloi challenges only his sentence. Fleurant contends that the district court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal because the evidence was insufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Both Fleurant and Ricardo Eloi contend that their sentences are unreasonable.

I.

Fleurant first contends that the district court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal. Rule 29 provides that “the court on the defendant’s motion must enter a judgment of acquittal of any offense for which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 29(a). We review de novo the district court’s denial of a Rule 29 motion. United States v. Willner, 795 F.3d 1297, 1307 (11th Cir.2015). In doing so, “[w]e resolve all reasonable inferences and credibility evaluations in favor of the jury’s verdict and ask whether any reasonable juror could have found [the defendant] guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id.

18 U.S.C. § 2119 makes it a crime for one “with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm [to] take[] a motor vehicle that has been transported, shipped, or received in interstate or foreign commerce from the person or presence of another by force and violence or by intimidation, or [to] attempt[ ] to do so.” See also United States v. Diaz, 248 F.3d 1065, 1096 (11th Cir.2001) (enumerating the elements *789 of carjacking under § 2119). Fleurant argues that the evidence does not establish that he attempted to “take” Rivera’s car. He asserts, for example, that he and his fellow assailants never demanded the car, they never entered the car, and they never attempted to take Rivera’s car key, which presumably would have been necessary to take the car itself. As a result, Fleurant says, the evidence shows only that he attempted to take Rivera’s personal belongings, not his car.

Viewing the evidence in the' light most favorable to the government, as we must, the evidence was sufficient to establish that Fleurant attempted to take Rivera’s car. A reasonable jury could conclude from the circumstances that taking Rivera’s phone and putting him in the trunk of his car was merely a prelude to taking the car itself, which was interrupted by the arrival of police. That Conclusion is bolstered by the fact that Fleurant and his fellow assailants never demanded Rivera’s, money or other possessions, aside from the phone, and even ignored Rivera’s offers to give them anything he had. Accordingly, the district court did not err in denying Fleurant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal.

II.

Fleurant next contends that his sentence is substantively unreasonable. We review the reasonableness of a sentence for abuse of discretion and the defendant bears the burden of showing that the sentence is unreasonable. United States v. Kuhlman, 711 F.3d 1321, 1326 (11th Cir.2013). When imposing a sentence, the district court must consider the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). “A district court abuses its discretion when it (1) fails to afford consideration to relevant factors that were due significant weight, (2) gives significant weight to an improper or irrelevant factor, or (3) commits a clear error of judgment in considering the proper factors.” United States v. Campa, 459 F.3d 1121, 1174 (11th Cir.2006) (en banc).

Fleurant argues that the district court failed to appropriately consider two § 3553(a) factors: first, “the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant,” 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1); and second, “the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities,” id. § 3553(a)(6). Fleurant maintains that the court failed to consider his limited role in the .carjacking as well as other potentially mitigating personal characteristics, which resulted in an unwarranted disparity between his sentence and the sentence of his codefendant, Ricky Eloi. Fleurant received a 108-month sentence with respect to his conviction for attempted carjacking, while Ricky Eloi received a 57-month sentence for the same conviction.

We have stated that “there can be no ‘unwarranted’ sentencing disparities among codefendants who are not similarly situated.” United States v. Azmat, 805 F.3d 1018, 1048 (11th Cir.2015); see also United States v. Regueiro, 240 F.3d 1321

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Bluebook (online)
652 F. App'x 786, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ricardo-eloi-ca11-2016.