United States Eighth Circuit

Defendant's conviction and sentence for harboring illegal aliens are affirmed in part where: 1) the court had no reason to doubt the district court's factual determination that, had defendant's counsel coerced defendant into pleading guilty, defendant's very involved wife would have notified the lower court of the issue earlier; and 2) severe overcrowding together with lack of heat and furnishings presented an inherent health-and-safety risk to each of the occupants such that the application of an enhancement was warranted. However, the judgment is reversed in part where the workers' status as illegal aliens did not alone justify a vulnerable-victim enhancement under the facts of this case.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/20/2010
• Published 10/20/2010

Judges

• Michael J. Melloy

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel