USA v. Roberto Jimenez-Delgado, No. 12-14156 (11th Cir. 2013)
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Case: 12-14156 Date Filed: 06/10/2013 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 12-14156 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 8:12-cr-00075-JSM-AEP-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus ROBERTO JIMENEZ-DELGADO, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________ (June 10, 2013) Before MARCUS, PRYOR and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 12-14156 Date Filed: 06/10/2013 Page: 2 of 4 Roberto Jimenez-Delgado appeals his sentence of 33 months of imprisonment, following his pleas of guilty to conspiring to transport illegal aliens, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(1), transporting illegal aliens, id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii), (B)(1), 18 U.S.C. § 2, reentering the United States illegally, 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), and entering the United States at a time or place other than as designated by immigration officials, id. §§ 1325(a)(1), 1329. Jimenez-Delgado challenges the enhancement of his sentence for managing five or more people in the conspiracy. We affirm. The district court did not clearly err by enhancing Jimenez-Delgado s sentence for his managerial role in the conspiracy to transport illegal aliens. A defendant is subject to a three-level increase in his offense level if he is a manager or supervisor (but not an organizer or leader) and the criminal activity involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive. United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 3B1.1(b) (Nov. 2011). Evidence presented at JimenezDelgado s change of plea and sentencing hearings established that he exercised control and decision-making authority over at least seven participants in the Calixto alien smuggling organization; transported aliens after they were smuggled into the United States; and recruited participants to join the organization. See id. cmt. n.4. During his change of plea hearing, Jimenez-Delgado admitted to managing the transportation of illegal aliens from Alabama to Florida; directing his 2 Case: 12-14156 Date Filed: 06/10/2013 Page: 3 of 4 wife to verify with him what fee to collect from each alien; attempting to recruit his neighbor s husband to drive vehicles for the organization; and using the neighbor instead to transport the aliens. See United States v. Wilson, 884 F.2d 1355, 1356 (11th Cir. 1989) ( The findings of fact of the sentencing court may be based on . . . facts admitted by a defendant s plea of guilty . . . or evidence presented at the sentencing hearing. ). At the sentencing hearing, Robert Vadasz, an agent of the United States Border Patrol, identified by name seven participants whom Jimenez-Delgado supervised in the organization; recounted statements made by Jimenez-Delgado s wife and neighbor that he coordinated the destinations and routes of the drivers and directed what fee to collect from the aliens and where to deliver the proceeds; and testified that Jimenez-Delgado relocated a third participant in his transportation cell to Arizona to lengthen the route for his transportation cell and make extra money per alien. Jimenez-Delgado argues, for the first time on appeal, that the district court should not have relied on Agent Vadasz s hearsay testimony about things Mr. Jimenez-Delgado allegedly said to third-parties in the presence of his wife and neighbor, but the agent s testimony has sufficient indicia of reliability to be considered at sentencing, United States v. Ghertler, 605 F.3d 1256, 1269 (11th Cir. 2010). Agent Vadasz interviewed Jimenez-Delgado s wife and neighbor and their accounts were consistent with Jimenez-Delgado s admissions about his role in the smuggling organization. 3 Case: 12-14156 Date Filed: 06/10/2013 We AFFIRM Jimenez-Delgado s sentence. 4 Page: 4 of 4
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