United States v. Victor Ramirez-Martinez

TROTT, Circuit Judge:

Due to some creative lawyering, this seemingly run-of-the-mill alien smuggling case requires us to confront a melange of novel legal issues.

A jury convicted Defendant-Appellant Victor Ramirez-Martinez (“Ramirez”) of two counts of attempting to transport and transporting undocumented aliens, in violation of 8 U.S.C § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) (2000), and one count of aiding and abetting bringing to the United States an undocumented alien for financial gain, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (2000). The district court, District Judge Barry T. Moskowitz,…