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Sentencing Guidelines

By: Derek Hawkins//June 13, 2017//

Sentencing Guidelines

By: Derek Hawkins//June 13, 2017//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Jose Chagoya-Morales

Case No.: 16-1198

Officials: RIPPLE, KANNE, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges

Focus: Sentencing Guidelines

Jose Chagoya‐Morales was charged with illegally reentering the United States after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and 6 U.S.C. § 202(4). He entered a conditional plea of guilty; the district court sentenced him to forty‐eight months’ imprisonment. He now contends that the district court should have conducted an evidentiary hearing before denying his motion to suppress information related to his identity and his status as an illegal resident of the United States. Mr. Chagoya‐Morales also challenges two aspects of his sentence: (1) whether the district court correctly increased his offense level by sixteen levels under the “crime of violence” enhancement in U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii); and (2) whether his forty‐eight month sentence was procedurally sound and substantively reasonable. We affirm the judgment of the district court in all respects. The court correctly denied the motion to suppress; under these circumstances, the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit a police officer from requiring a person to identify him‐ self, nor does it guarantee a defendant the right to conceal who he is during a criminal prosecution. The district court also correctly applied the career offender enhancement be‐ cause Mr. Chagoya‐Morales’s prior Illinois aggravated robbery conviction is a crime of violence under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b). Finally, the imposed sentence is procedurally sound and substantively reasonable. The district court correctly calculated Mr. Chagoya‐Morales’s guidelines range and appropriately justified a downward variance based on the relevant factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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