USA v. Anso Azor

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 13-11089
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 1:12-cr-20785-JEM-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
ANSO AZOR,
a.k.a. Maxo Blane,
a.k.a. Phillipe Romaine,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
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(October 15, 2013)
Before WILSON, PRYOR and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Anso Azor appeals his sentence of 30 months of imprisonment following his
plea of guilty to using or possessing fraudulent immigration documents, 18 U.S.C.
§ 1546(a), and aggravated identity theft, id. § 1028A(a)(1). Azor argues that his
sentence is unreasonable. We affirm.
Azor was deported in 1988 twice after entering the United States illegally
using two different false identities; in 1995 after attempting to reenter the country
using his real name; and in May 2012 when he attempted to reenter the country
using a false passport bearing his photograph and the name of a naturalized citizen
of the United States, J.R.J. In September 2012, Azor again attempted to enter the
United States. Azor presented using a Haitian passport and a permanent resident
card, both of which bore his photograph and J.R.J.’s name. Border patrol agents
searched Azor and seized from him other documents bearing J.R.J.’s name,
including licenses issued by Florida and Georgia, credit and debit cards, and
records of checks issued by an employer and governmental tax offices. Azor also
had amassed criminal charges under J.R.J.’s name.
The district court did not abuse its discretion. The district court sentenced
Azor to a term at the high end of his advisory guideline range of zero to six months
of imprisonment for using fraudulent immigration documents and to a consecutive
term of 24 months of imprisonment that was mandated for his offense of
aggravated identity theft. See United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual
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§ 2B1.6(a) & n.1. Azor requested a sentence of two years and one day based on
his unfortunate childhood, various tragedies in adulthood, and obligations to his
children in Haiti and the United States, but the district court reasonably determined
that a sentence of 30 months of imprisonment was necessary to address the
statutory purposes of sentencing. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The district court
explained that Azor required a sentence “of the high end or more” because
“deportation [didn’t] really seem to much matter” to him; he “need[ed] to be
punished” for his “serious” offenses that involved “using a live person’s
identification”; and “putting him in jail . . . [appeared to] be the only way” to
prevent him from “sneaking back in” and returning to “the streets.” Azor
complains about insufficient weight being given to his professed fear of being
persecuted in Haiti and his financial obligations to his families, but the district
court was entitled to find that those considerations were outweighed by the need to
address the seriousness of his offenses and deter future similar conduct,
particularly when Azor had admitted to entering the country for economic reasons.
See United States v. Shaw, 560 F.3d 1230, 1237 (11th Cir. 2009). Azor also
argues that his sentence is unreasonably disparate from those imposed on United
States citizens who can qualify for “drug treatment or release to a halfway house,”
but a deportable alien like Azor who has repeatedly violated our immigration laws
is not similarly situated to a legal citizen of this country. See United States v.
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Docampo, 573 F.3d 1091, 1101–02 (11th Cir. 2009) (“A well-founded claim of
disparity, however, assumes that apples are being compared to apples.” (quoting
United States v. Mateo–Espejo, 426 F.3d 508, 514 (1st Cir. 2005)).
We AFFIRM Azor’s sentence.
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