USA V. RAFAEL ESQUIVEL-CASTANEDA, No. 13-50246 (9th Cir. 2013)

Annotate this Case
Download PDF
FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEC 06 2013 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, No. 13-50246 D.C. No. 3:12-cr-05197-LAB v. MEMORANDUM* RAFAEL ESQUIVEL-CASTANEDA, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Larry A. Burns, District Judge, Presiding Submitted November 19, 2013** Before: CANBY, TROTT, and THOMAS, Circuit Judges. Rafael Esquivel-Castaneda appeals from the district court s judgment and challenges the 12-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for bringing in illegal aliens without presentation and aiding and abetting, in violation * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(iii) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm. Esquivel-Castaneda contends that the district court erred by imposing a twolevel increase for using a minor to commit the crime under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.4. We review for clear error. See United States v. Preciado, 506 F.3d 808, 810 (9th Cir. 2007) (per curiam). The district court did not clearly err in finding that Esquivel-Castaneda affirmatively used his children in his crime. See id. (evidence that defendant brought children along to a previously planned crime supports a finding that the minors were used to avoid detection ). AFFIRMED. 2 13-50246

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.