NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ________________ No. 19-3960 ________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JOSE ANICO, a/k/a A.M., Appellant ________________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Criminal No. 5-19-cr-00086-001) District Judge: Honorable Jeffrey L. Schmehl ________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1 on September 30, 2020 Before: SHWARTZ, PHIPPS, and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges (Filed: December 30, 2020) ________________ OPINION * ________________ SCIRICA, Circuit Judge * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Jose Anico, a Dominican Republic national, pled guilty to various fraud charges arising out of his appropriation of a false identity to facilitate and enable his receipt of various benefits from the United States Government. Anico challenges his sentence of supervised release, contending the court’s failure to address the presumption against supervised release for deportable immigrants amounts to a procedural sentencing error. We find any alleged deficiency in the court’s explanation for imposing supervised release did not affect Anico’s substantial rights. We will affirm. I. Born in the Dominican Republic, Jose Anico is not a United States citizen and has never received lawful permission to reside in the United States. He was able to reside in the United States because he purchased the personal identification information of a certain A.M., a U.S. citizen, including his name, date of birth, and Social Security number. Under his assumed identity, Anico applied for, and was awarded, Supplemental Social Security Income benefits in the amount of $67,762.70 and Retirement and Survivors Insurance benefits in the amount of $72,809.90. Because he was receiving Social Security benefits, he was eligible to receive Medicare coverage and received $334,429.91 in benefits under the Medicare program. In all, Anico fraudulently obtained $475,002.51 in U.S. government benefits. In 2017, Anico applied for a passport. He soon came to the attention of the Passport Fraud Office Prevention Manager because he had been previously identified as 2 having used the social security number of a person who was reported deceased. After further investigation, Anico was arrested. Anico pled guilty to one count of making a false statement in a passport application, one count of aggravated identity theft, five counts of wire fraud, and four counts of healthcare fraud. Anico’s advisory guideline range was 24–30 months. In addition, there was a mandatory consecutive sentence of 24 months for aggravated identity theft. At Anico’s sentencing, the court inquired as to what extent, if any, Anico’s medical conditions would affect his deportation. Defense counsel acknowledged there was a possibility Anico’s medical status could cause his immigration detainer to be lifted and referenced a prior instance where a deportable immigrant’s medical status caused a detainer to be lifted. 1 After this discussion, the court sentenced Anico. Granting a downward departure, the court sentenced him to thirty-six months’ imprisonment plus three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $475,002.51 in restitution. The court stated ...
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