PUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 16-4752 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. MIGUEL ZELAYA, a/k/a Most Wanted, Defendant – Appellant. No. 16-4857 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. LUIS ORDONEZ-VEGA, a/k/a Big Boy, Defendant – Appellant. No. 16-4859 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. JORGE SOSA, a/k/a Koki, a/k/a Loco, Defendant – Appellant. No. 17-4052 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. WILLIAM GAVIDIA, a/k/a Duro, Defendant – Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., District Judge. (3:15-cr-00121-RJC-DSC-37; 3:15- cr-00121-RJC-DSC-22; 3:15-cr-00121-RJC-DSC-29; 3:15-cr-00121-RJC-DSC-13) Argued: September 28, 2018 Decided: November 14, 2018 Before KING, DUNCAN, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges. 2 Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Duncan wrote the opinion, in which Judge King joined. Judge Floyd wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. ARGUED: William Robinson Heroy, GOODMAN, CARR, LAUGHRUN, LEVINE & GREENE, Charlotte, North Carolina; Lisa S. Costner, LISA S. COSTNER, PA, Winston- Salem, North Carolina; Walter Hoytt Paramore, III, LAW OFFICES OF W.H. PARAMORE, III, Jacksonville, North Carolina; Aaron Edmund Michel, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellants. William Michael Miller, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Dana O. Washington, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee. 3 DUNCAN, Circuit Judge: Appellants Miguel Zelaya, Luis Ordonez-Vega, Jorge Sosa, and William Gavidia were each convicted of participating in a racketeering conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d). Zelaya, Ordonez-Vega, and Sosa were also convicted of committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering under 18 U.S.C. § 1959 (“VICAR”) and of using a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime under 18 U.S.C. § 924 for their respective roles in several unrelated shootings. Appellants challenge these convictions on twelve separate grounds, and Appellant Gavidia challenges his sentence. Finding no reversible error, we affirm. I. Appellants are members of the street gang La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. Formed in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants to Los Angeles for protection against rival street gangs, MS-13 has grown into a violent organization with active “cliques,” or local chapters with varying levels of autonomy, operating throughout the United States and several Central American countries. MS-13 cliques may extort local businesses or drug dealers, participate in international narcotics trafficking, and remit funds to gang leadership in El Salvador. Appellants were members of MS-13 cliques in and around Charlotte, North Carolina. We briefly describe the relevant background of each Appellant and provide additional information as necessary in the context of their respective arguments. 4 Zelaya became interested in MS-13 at a young age. He held himself out to MS-13 leaders in Charlotte as a fully-initiated member and engaged in bar fights with rival gangs alongside MS-13 associates. On December 18, 2013, Zelaya shot and killed Jose Ibarra outside of a bar, believing that Ibarra had threatened a friend. Ballistics evidence connected Zelaya ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals