USCA11 Case: 22-11545 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 05/10/2023 Page: 1 of 7 [DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 22-11545 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus FIDEL MOREJON VEGA, a.k.a. David Padrino, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:21-cr-20336-KMM-1 USCA11 Case: 22-11545 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 05/10/2023 Page: 2 of 7 2 Opinion of the Court 22-11545 ____________________ Before JORDAN, BRANCH, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Fidel Morejon Vega impersonated a federal agent and de- frauded over a dozen immigrants out of roughly $175,000, promis- ing to help with their United States immigration status. Vega com- mitted this criminal scheme only three months after serving a sen- tence for conducting a similar scheme. After Vega pleaded guilty, the district court varied upward from the guidelines advisory range, sentencing him to sixty months’ imprisonment. On appeal, Vega argues that the district court, which more than tripled the up- per bound of the guidelines advisory range, imposed a substan- tively unreasonable sentence. We disagree and affirm. I. We briefly recount the relevant facts, which are largely un- disputed. In April 2018, Vega falsely represented to M.R.V., a Costa Rican citizen, that he was a federal immigration agent. Vega prom- ised to expedite M.R.V.’s citizenship paperwork for $10,000. M.R.V. paid Vega and provided him with copies of her driver’s li- cense and work permit. She also sought Vega’s assistance for sev- eral friends and relatives who needed immigration assistance. Be- tween May 2018 and August 2018, Vega collected about $175,000 from M.R.V.’s referrals. USCA11 Case: 22-11545 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 05/10/2023 Page: 3 of 7 22-11545 Opinion of the Court 3 Vega delivered I-797 immigration forms to M.R.V. and two others, which purported to notify the three individuals that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services had approved their ap- plications for permanent residency. A subsequent review of those documents by federal law enforcement agents revealed that the I- 797 forms were fraudulent, and that Vega had never worked for the federal government in any capacity. In 2021, a federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment. Vega pleaded guilty to possession or use of a false immigration doc- ument, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a), and encouraging and in- ducing aliens to enter and remain in the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv). The government dismissed the re- maining counts. At Vega’s sentencing hearing, the district court adopted the guidelines advisory range of twelve to eighteen months’ imprison- ment. Although the government recommended a sentence at the top of the guidelines advisory range, the district court imposed an upward variance and sentenced Vega to sixty months’ imprison- ment. The court found Vega’s offense “shocking” because of the victims and the fact that his criminal conduct began less than three months after he had served a sentence for “exactly the same thing.” His conduct showed “absolutely …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals