The Fifth Circuit affirmed a forty-two-month sentence for a defendant convicted of conspiring to transport aliens. The court held that sufficient evidence supported a two-level sentencing enhancement based on a coconspirator's possession of a dangerous weapon.
Jesus Rodriguez-Garza pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport aliens within the United States. The district court imposed a forty-two-month sentence and applied a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. Section 2L1.1(b)(5)(C) because a coconspirator possessed a dangerous weapon. Rodriguez-Garza appealed, arguing insufficient evidence supported the enhancement and that the weapon possession did not constitute relevant conduct.
The court’s reasoning
The court found that the record supported sufficient evidence that Rodriguez-Garza’s coconspirator possessed a firearm. The court determined this possession constituted relevant conduct under U.S.S.G. Section 1B1.3(a)(1)(B). Consequently, the district court did not clearly err in enhancing the offense level pursuant to U.S.S.G. Section 2L1.1(b)(5)(C).
What it means going forward
This decision reinforces that defendants may face enhanced sentences for dangerous weapons possessed by coconspirators in alien smuggling cases if the possession is deemed relevant conduct.
