United States v. Youssouf Abdourahmane , 549 F. App'x 442 ( 2013 )

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 13a1043n.06
No. 13-3815
FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Dec 19, 2013
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
)
Plaintiff-Appellee, )
)
v. ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
YOUSSOUF OUSMANE ) THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF
ABDOURAHMANE, ) OHIO
)
Defendant-Appellant. )
)
BEFORE: COLE, GILMAN, and DONALD, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM. Youssouf Ousmane Abdourahmane, a citizen of the Central African
Republic and a federal prisoner, appeals through counsel a judgment of the district court
revoking his term of supervised release.
Abdourahmane entered this country in 1996 and achieved residence status in 2001 by
marrying a United States citizen. However, in 2006, he was convicted of crimes of moral
turpitude and an aggravated felony, and was eventually ordered removed to the Central African
Republic. In 2012, he entered a plea to a charge of taking an action designed to prevent his
departure, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1253(a)(1)(C), when he refused to board a plane to the
Central African Republic on a flight the government had arranged to remove him from the
United States. The guidelines sentencing range was calculated at 30 to 37 months, but the court
approved a sentence of time served, twelve months, as stated in the plea agreement.
No. 13-3815
United States v. Abdourahmane
Abdourahmane was also sentenced to two years of supervised release in an attempt to assure that
he would comply with his removal from this country. However, Abdourahmane again refused to
board a flight arranged to return him to the Central African Republic. He was therefore charged
with violating his supervised release by committing a new federal offense. The district court
found that the charge was established by a preponderance of the evidence. The guidelines range
for this violation was 18 to 24 months of imprisonment. The district court sentenced
Abdourahmane to 24 months.
On appeal, Abdourahmane argues that no violation of his supervised release was
established because his refusal to board the plane to the Central African Republic was not a
federal criminal offense. First, he argues that the government could not require him to board a
commercial flight, but was instead required to forcibly place him on a chartered plane in order to
remove him from the country. Secondly, he argues that the agents in charge of his removal knew
that he was attempting to arrange to receive a passport to Chad and be removed to that country,
and that they acquiesced in that plan.
We review a decision revoking a term of supervised release for an abuse of discretion,
reviewing the district court’s factual findings for clear error and its legal conclusions de novo.
United States v. Kontrol, 554 F.3d 1089, 1091-92 (6th Cir. 2009). To find a violation of
supervised release, the district court must find that the violation has been proven by a
preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Cofield, 233 F.3d 405, 406 (6th Cir. 2000). We
find no abuse of discretion by the district court in concluding that a new federal offense had been
committed. Abdourahmane’s argument that the government was compelled to forcibly remove
him on a chartered plane is completely without supporting legal authority. Abdourahmane was
aware that failing to board a plane arranged to remove him from the country was a violation of
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No. 13-3815
United States v. Abdourahmane
federal law because he had entered a plea to the exact same offense the previous year. That the
government agents knew Abdourahmane would have preferred to be removed to Chad and
would have acquiesced in such a departure is also immaterial. Abdourahmane nevertheless knew
that he was committing a new violation of federal law when he refused to board the flight that
the government had arranged for him.
Accordingly, the district court’s judgment is affirmed.
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