United States v. Tiburcio Ramirez-Jimenez


United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 17-3059 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee v. Tiburcio Ramirez-Jimenez lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Waterloo ____________ Submitted: September 24, 2018 Filed: November 2, 2018 [Published] ____________ Before LOKEN, BENTON, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. Tiburcio Ramirez-Jimenez, a citizen of Guatemala, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of identification documents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a) and was sentenced by the district court1 to time served in prison. Ramirez-Jimenez appeals, arguing that 1 The Honorable Linda R. Reade, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa. defense counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to adequately warn him about the immigration consequences of his guilty plea. We affirm. Ramirez-Jimenez was encountered by the Border Patrol after illegally entering the United States in 2011. He was released on his own recognizance and joined his parents in Waterloo, Iowa. In March 2016, Ramirez-Jimenez was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody following a driving conviction in Tama County, Iowa. He bonded out of ICE custody the following month. One year later, he was charged with driving with a suspended license and providing the arresting officers with a false name. Advised that Ramirez-Jimenez claimed to be employed by a company in Waterloo, ICE investigated and learned that he had used a false social security card and a false permanent resident card in completing an I-9 immigration form. In May 2017, he was given a suspended sentence by Tama County, placed in ICE custody, and charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a). On June 20, 2017, Ramirez-Jimenez appeared for a change-of-plea hearing with appointed counsel, an Assistant Federal Public Defender. In advising Ramirez- Jimenez of the punishment he would face if he pleaded guilty, Magistrate Judge C.J. Williams2 explained: THE COURT: Are you a United States citizen? DEFENDANT RAMIREZ-JIMENEZ: No. THE COURT: I mentioned to you that after you have served your prison sentence, you will be placed on a term of supervised release. Because you are not a United States citizen, you may be deported immediately after serving your prison sentence and a condition of your supervised release will be that you not reenter the United States while on 2 The Honorable Charles J. Williams was appointed to be a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa on September 10, 2018. -2- supervised release. If you violate that condition and reenter the United States, the Court can . . . send you back to prison for all of any time you otherwise would have been on supervised release. . . . Do you understand that? DEFENDANT RAMIREZ-JIMENEZ: Yes. THE COURT: This conviction can also affect your ability to ever legally reent[er] the United States or become a United States citizen. Do you understand that? DEFENDANT RAMIREZ-JIMENEZ: Yes. THE COURT: Prior to today, did [defense counsel] discuss with you the fact that ...

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