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Description: Tucson, Arizona criminal law lawyer represented Defendant charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens for profit in violation of 8:1324, which provides:

(a) Criminal penalties
(1)(A) Any person who—
(i) knowing that a person is an alien, brings
to or attempts to bring to the United States in
any manner whatsoever such person at a place
other than a designated port of entry or place
other than as designated by the Commis-
sioner, regardless of whether such alien has re-
ceived prior official authorization to come to,
enter, or reside in the United States and re-
gardless of any future official action which
may be taken with respect to such alien;
(ii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the
fact that an alien has come to, entered, or re-
mains in the United States in violation of law,
transports, or moves or attempts to transport
or move such alien within the United States
by means of transportation or otherwise, in
furtherance of such violation of law;
(iii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the
fact that an alien has come to, entered, or re-
mains in the United States in violation of law,
conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or
attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from de-
tection, such alien in any place, including any
building or any means of transportation;
(iv) encourages or induces an alien to come
to, enter, or reside in the United States, know-
ing or in reckless disregard of the fact that
such coming to, entry, or residence is or will
be in violation of law; or
(v)(I) engages in any conspiracy to commit
any of the preceding acts, or
(II) aids or abets the commission of any of
the preceding acts, shall be punished as provided in subparagraph
(B).
(B) A person who violates subparagraph (A)
shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a
violation occurs—
(i) in the case of a violation of subparagraph
(A)(i) or (v)(I) or in the case of a violation of
subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in which the
offense was done for the purpose of commer-
cial advantage or private financial gain, be
fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than
10 years, or both;
(ii) in the case of a violation of subparagraph
(A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), be fined under title
18, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;
(iii) in the case of a violation of subpara-
graph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) during and in
relation to which the person causes serious
bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title
18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any
person, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not
more than 20 years, or both; and
(iv) in the case of a violation of subpara-
graph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) resulting in
the death of any person, be punished by death
or imprisoned for any term of years or for life,
fined under title 18, or both.
(C) It is not a violation of clauses 1 (ii) or (iii)
of subparagraph (A), or of clause (iv) of subpara-
graph (A) except where a person encourages or
induces an alien to come to or enter the United
States, for a religious denomination having a
bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in
the United States, or the agents or officers of
such denomination or organization, to encour-
age, invite, call, allow, or enable an alien who is
present in the United States to perform the vo-
cation of a minister or missionary for the de-
nomination or organization in the United States
as a volunteer who is not compensated as an em-
ployee, notwithstanding the provision of room,
board, travel, medical assistance, and other
basic living expenses, provided the minister or
missionary has been a member of the denomina-
tion for at least one year.
(2) Any person who, knowing or in reckless
disregard of the fact that an alien has not re-
ceived prior official authorization to come to,
enter, or reside in the United States, brings to
or attempts to bring to the United States in any
manner whatsoever, such alien, regardless of
any official action which may later be taken
with respect to such alien shall, for each alien in
respect to whom a violation of this paragraph
occurs—
(A) be fined in accordance with title 18 or
imprisoned not more than one year, or both;
or
(B) in the case of—
(i) an offense committed with the intent or
with reason to believe that the alien unlaw-
fully brought into the United States will
commit an offense against the United States
or any State punishable by imprisonment for
more than 1 year,
(ii) an offense done for the purpose of com-
mercial advantage or private financial gain,
or Page 345 TITLE 8—ALIENS AND NATIONALITY § 1324
1 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘clause’’.
shall be punished as provided in subparagraph
(B).
(B) A person who violates subparagraph (A)
shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a
violation occurs—
(i) in the case of a violation of subparagraph
(A)(i) or (v)(I) or in the case of a violation of
subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in which the
offense was done for the purpose of commer-
cial advantage or private financial gain, be
fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than
10 years, or both;
(ii) in the case of a violation of subparagraph
(A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), be fined under title
18, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;
(iii) in the case of a violation of subpara-
graph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) during and in
relation to which the person causes serious
bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title
18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any
person, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not
more than 20 years, or both; and
(iv) in the case of a violation of subpara-
graph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) resulting in
the death of any person, be punished by death
or imprisoned for any term of years or for life,
fined under title 18, or both.
(C) It is not a violation of clauses 1 (ii) or (iii)
of subparagraph (A), or of clause (iv) of subpara-
graph (A) except where a person encourages or
induces an alien to come to or enter the United
States, for a religious denomination having a
bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in
the United States, or the agents or officers of
such denomination or organization, to encour-
age, invite, call, allow, or enable an alien who is
present in the United States to perform the vo-
cation of a minister or missionary for the de-
nomination or organization in the United States
as a volunteer who is not compensated as an em-
ployee, notwithstanding the provision of room,
board, travel, medical assistance, and other
basic living expenses, provided the minister or
missionary has been a member of the denomina-
tion for at least one year.
(2) Any person who, knowing or in reckless
disregard of the fact that an alien has not re-
ceived prior official authorization to come to,
enter, or reside in the United States, brings to
or attempts to bring to the United States in any
manner whatsoever, such alien, regardless of
any official action which may later be taken
with respect to such alien shall, for each alien in
respect to whom a violation of this paragraph
occurs—
(A) be fined in accordance with title 18 or
imprisoned not more than one year, or both;
or
(B) in the case of—
(i) an offense committed with the intent or
with reason to believe that the alien unlaw-
fully brought into the United States will
commit an offense against the United States
or any State punishable by imprisonment for
more than 1 year,
(ii) an offense done for the purpose of com-
mercial advantage or private financial gain,
or
(iii) an offense in which the alien is not
upon arrival immediately brought and pre-
sented to an appropriate immigration officer
at a designated port of entry,
be fined under title 18 and shall be imprisoned,
in the case of a first or second violation of
subparagraph (B)(iii), not more than 10 years,
in the case of a first or second violation of
subparagraph (B)(i) or (B)(ii), not less than 3
nor more than 10 years, and for any other vio-
lation, not less than 5 nor more than 15 years.
(3)(A) Any person who, during any 12-month
period, knowingly hires for employment at least
10 individuals with actual knowledge that the
individuals are aliens described in subparagraph
(B) shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned for
not more than 5 years, or both.
(B) An alien described in this subparagraph is
an alien who—
(i) is an unauthorized alien (as defined in
section 1324a(h)(3) of this title), and
(ii) has been brought into the United States
in violation of this subsection.
(4) In the case of a person who has brought
aliens into the United States in violation of this
subsection, the sentence otherwise provided for
may be increased by up to 10 years if—
(A) the offense was part of an ongoing com-
mercial organization or enterprise;
(B) aliens were transported in groups of 10 or
more; and
(C)(i) aliens were transported in a manner
that endangered their lives; or
(ii) the aliens presented a life-threatening
health risk to people in the United States, ***

Outcome: Defendant ws committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons for a term of EIGHTEEN (18) MONTHS, with credit for time served. Upon release from imprisonment, the defendant shall be placed on supervised release for a term of THREE (3) YEARS. Special Assessment: $100.00 JVTA: $5,000.00.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: