United States v. Ignacio Ortiz-Correa

Case: 19-12979 Date Filed: 12/19/2019 Page: 1 of 6
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 19-12979
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 4:19-cr-00016-WMR-WEJ-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
IGNACIO ORTIZ-CORREA,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
________________________
(December 19, 2019)
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, JILL PRYOR and MARCUS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Ignacio Ortiz-Correa appeals his 12-month prison sentence, imposed for
illegally reentering the United States after having been previously deported. On
appeal, he argues that the district court imposed a procedurally unreasonable
Case: 19-12979 Date Filed: 12/19/2019 Page: 2 of 6
sentence because, in calculating his offense level, it applied an eight-level
enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(3)(B) after finding that Ortiz-Correa was
previously convicted of a crime for which he received a two-year sentence. After
thorough review, we affirm.
In the context of the Sentencing Guidelines, we review purely legal questions
de novo and the district court’s factual findings for clear error. United States v.
Rothenberg, 610 F.3d 621, 624 (11th Cir. 2010). “For a finding to be clearly
erroneous, [we] must be left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has
been committed.” Id. (quotations omitted).
A defendant convicted of illegally reentering the United States receives an
eight-level enhancement if the defendant was ordered removed and was
subsequently convicted of a crime for which the sentence imposed was two years or
more. U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(3)(B). A defendant convicted of illegally reentering the
United States receives a four-level enhancement if the defendant was ordered
removed and was subsequently convicted of a crime for which the sentence imposed
was less than one year and one month. Id. § 2L1.2(b)(3)(C)-(D).
The term “sentence imposed” carries the same meaning as “sentence of
imprisonment” in § 4A1.2(b) and that section’s Application Note 2. Id. § 2L1.2,
comment. (n.2). “[S]entence of imprisonment” is defined as: “(1) . . . a sentence of
incarceration and refers to the maximum sentence imposed. (2) If part of a sentence
2
Case: 19-12979 Date Filed: 12/19/2019 Page: 3 of 6
of imprisonment was suspended, ‘sentence of imprisonment’ refers only to the
portion that was not suspended.” Id. § 4A1.2(b). Furthermore,
[t]o qualify as a sentence of imprisonment, the defendant must have
actually served a period of imprisonment on such sentence . . . . For the
purposes of applying §4A1.1(a), (b), or (c), the length of a sentence of
imprisonment is the stated maximum (e.g., in the case of a determinate
sentence of five years, the stated maximum is five years; in the case of
an indeterminate sentence of one to five years, the stated maximum is
five years; in the case of an indeterminate sentence for a term not to
exceed five years, the stated maximum is five years . . . . That is,
criminal history points are based on the sentence pronounced, not the
length of time actually served. See §4A1.2(b)(1) and (2).
Id. § 4A1.2, comment. (n.2) (citation omitted).
Under Georgia law, a sentencing judge has the power to “suspend or probate
all or any part of the entire sentence under such rules and regulations as the judge
deems proper” subject to exceptions not applicable to this case. O.C.G.A. § 17-10-
1(a)(1). We have recognized that “suspension” under Georgia law is ambiguous
and, thus, the federal meaning of the word applies. See United States v. Ayala-
Gomez, 255 F.3d 1314, 1319 (11th Cir. 2001) (holding that a state court sentence of
five years’ imprisonment where the defendant was only to serve eight months before
being released on probation was a suspended sentence for purposes of a federal
immigration statute). We held that the federal meaning of suspension was “a
procedural act that precedes a court’s authorization for a defendant to spend part or
all of the imposed prison sentence outside of prison” on probation. Id. at 1318-19.
3
Case: 19-12979 Date Filed: 12/19/2019 Page: 4 of 6
While suspension and probation are similar in Georgia, they are distinct
because a probation officer enforces conditions of probation whereas the sentencing
court enforces conditions of suspension. Id. at 1318. A suspended sentence “is not
subject to the panoply of rules surrounding probation.” Id. Where a suspended
sentence is revoked, “the effect . . . is to require service of the unexpired portion
thereof.” Lester v. Foster, 63 S.E.2d 402, 402 (Ga. 1951) (quotation omitted). A
suspended sentence may be revoked “after the time the sentence by its terms was to
run had expired.” Daniel v. Whitlock, 149 S.E.2d 79, 79-81 (Ga. 1966) (quotation
omitted).
Here, the district court did not clearly err in applying an eight-level
enhancement because it properly found that Ortiz-Correa had been convicted of a
crime for which a two-year sentence was imposed. Section 2L1.2(b)(3) mandates
either an eight-level enhancement or a four-level enhancement depending on what
sentence was imposed for Ortiz-Correa’s 2009 drug offense. Section 4A1.2 states
that a sentence of imprisonment refers to the maximum sentence imposed. Here, the
state court imposed a sentence of two years’ imprisonment, which was the maximum
sentence imposed. Although Ortiz-Correa served less than two months in prison,
the focus is not on the time served but rather the sentence that was pronounced,
which in this case was two years’ imprisonment. See U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2, comment.
4
Case: 19-12979 Date Filed: 12/19/2019 Page: 5 of 6
(n.2). Thus, the sentence imposed was two years’ imprisonment and the eight-level
enhancement mandated by § 2L1.2(b)(3)(B) would apply.
As for Ortiz-Correa’s argument that his two-year sentence was suspended
when he was deported, we disagree. While the state court observed that the sentence
would be tolled upon Ortiz-Correa’s deportation, the court added that the sentence
would be reactivated upon his reentry to the United States. That language reveals
that the state court did not intend to excuse Ortiz-Correa from spending two years in
prison because, under the plain meaning of the state court’s sentence, if Ortiz-Correa
reentered the United States, even after ten years, he would serve at least the
remainder of his two-year sentence in prison. See Whitlock, 149 S.E.2d at 79-81.
In any event, the state court did not know for certain that Ortiz-Correa would be
deported because his deportation was at the Attorney General’s discretion, meaning
that the state court sentenced him with the knowledge that he could spend the full
two years in prison. See United States v. Romeo, 122 F.3d 941, 944 (11th Cir. 1997)
(holding that the United States Attorney General has the discretion to deport an alien
from the United States, and a court generally lacks the authority to order
deportation); see also Palciauskas v. U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Serv., 939
F.2d 963, 968-69 (11th Cir. 1991). The state court’s order that Ortiz-Correa’s
sentence would be reactivated if he was deported and returned to the country thus
indicates that the state court did not impose a suspended sentence.
5
Case: 19-12979 Date Filed: 12/19/2019 Page: 6 of 6
That Ortiz-Correa was to be placed on eight years’ probation after spending
two years in prison further indicates that a suspended sentence was not imposed.
Georgia law makes clear that probation and suspension, although similar, are
separate mechanisms. See Ayala-Gomez, 255 F.3d at 1318; Hughes v. Town of
Tyrone, 440 S.E.2d 58, 59 (Ga. 1994) (“A suspended sentence is not the same as
being put on probation.”). Accepting Ortiz-Correa’s interpretation of the sentence,
he received both a suspended sentence and also a probated sentence, which Georgia
law does not allow. See O.C.G.A. § 17-10-1(a)(1) (stating that a judge can suspend
or probate a sentence); Jones v. State, 269 S.E.2d 77, 77-79 (Ga. 1980) (“A trial
judge is granted power and authority to suspend or probate a determinate sentence.
He does not have authority to do both.” (citation and quotations omitted)). Because
Georgia law does not allow a state court to impose both probation and a suspended
sentence, Ortiz-Correa could not have received a suspended sentence.
In short, the eight-level enhancement was proper because Ortiz-Correa
received a two-year sentence imposed for his 2009 drug conviction, and that
sentence was not suspended. Accordingly, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
6