FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAY 13 2015
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES, No. 13-50348
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 2:11-cr-00050-GAF-5
v.
MEMORANDUM*
LORENZO GONZALEZ, AKA Grumpy,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Gary A. Feess, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted December 11, 2014
Pasadena, California
Before: WARDLAW and BERZON, Circuit Judges, and SMITH, District Judge.**
Lorenzo Gonzalez appeals his conviction and sentence following a jury trial
in which he was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy (Count One) and of two
counts of committing a violent crime in aid of a racketeering enterprise
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as
provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The Honorable William E. Smith, Chief United States District Judge for the
District of Rhode Island, sitting by designation.
(“VICAR”): conspiracy to murder rival gang members (Count Two) and
conspiracy to murder Edward Clark (Count Ten). In a concurrently filed opinion,
we address Gonzalez’s argument that the district court’s instructions to the jury on
Count Two violated his right to a unanimous jury verdict. See United States v.
Gonzalez, __ F.3d __ (9th Cir. 2015). In this memorandum disposition, we address
Gonzalez’s remaining challenges to his conviction and sentence. We affirm in part,
vacate in part, and remand for resentencing.
1. Gonzalez claims that there was insufficient evidence with respect to Count
Ten and the overt-act element of Count Two. Viewing the evidence in the light
most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could
have found the essential elements of the crimes charged in Counts Two and Ten
beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Nevils, 598 F.3d 1158, 1163-64
(9th Cir. 2010) (en banc).
The evidence relating to the VICAR conspiracy to murder Clark charged in
Count Ten was sufficient. After being informed by Jose Villasenor of a theft of
property from Villasenor’s garage, Gonzalez directed Alfredo Revelez to search
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the neighborhood for the van driven by the suspected thief.1 Gonzalez told
Revelez, “We need to get that motherfucker.” Although he was hesitant to discuss
the details over the telephone, Gonzalez told Revelez that he would be well
compensated for his assistance. Later that day, Gonzalez pressured Villasenor for a
monetary figure: “Give me a number . . . . ’Cause it’s gonna happen. It’s gonna
happen ASAP . . . .” Gonzalez told Villasenor that he knew where the thief lived,
but that “those guys [are] not gonna do it for nothing . . . . [because] if they get
caught, you already know they’re gonna bust them so, tell your brother to offer
them something good.” A few days later, Villasenor informed Gonzalez that he
would pay $2,000. Two days later, Gonzalez informed Villasenor’s brother that
“it’s a go on that. I’m gonna meet with the homie tomorrow.” Gonzalez then called
Revelez and told him “it’s a go on that” and “[t]he sooner, the better.” Gonzalez
asked Revelez whether he “already got somebody,” and Revelez responded in the
affirmative. Viewing this evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, a
rational trier of fact could have found that Gonzalez intended and agreed to kill
Clark and that overt acts were committed in furtherance of this agreement. See
People v. Von Villas, 11 Cal. App. 4th 175, 244 (1992) (“[O]nce a punishable
1
Although the wiretap evidence did not refer to Clark by name, it was clear that the gang
suspected that the thief was Villasenor’s brother-in-law. In addition to being Villasenor’s
brother-in-law, Clark generally matched the physical description of the thief referred to in the
taped conversations.
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agreement is formed, internal discussions and arrangements between
coconspirators can easily constitute overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy.”).2
We reach the same conclusion with respect to the evidence on the overt-act
element of Count Two. Frank Mariscal reported to Gonzalez that a man known as
“Speedy,” a member of the rival gang BMS or Big Macs, lived in 38th Street Gang
territory. Gonzalez reported this information to Revelez, and, about two weeks
later called him back and told him: “[T]he homies . . . they’re-they’re about to get
that Big Mac [i.e. Speedy], fool. They-they already know how they want and
everything. They posted, they’re waiting for him right now, but they need a heat.”
Revelez told Gonzalez, “Tell him to come pick it up.” Shortly thereafter, Gonzalez
called Revelez to inform him that “they’re already on the way.” Minutes later,
Revelez called Gonzalez to tell him that “[t]hem fools already came through.”
Gonzalez told Revelez, “I told them to return it to you as soon as they were done,”
and he warned Revelez to “[b]e on alert when they come and drop it off.” A
rational factfinder could have found on the basis of this evidence that an overt act
was taken in further of a conspiracy to murder Speedy, a rival gang member. See
Von Villas, 11 Cal. App. 4th at 244.
2
The violent crime underlying the VICAR offenses charged in Counts Two and Ten was
conspiracy to commit murder in violation of Cal. Penal Code §§ 182 and 187.
4
Additionally, on another occasion, Reinaldo Resendez called Gonzalez to
tell him that BMS members were “kicking it” at a particular intersection in 38th
Street Gang territory. When Gonzalez offered to “call some homies,” Resendez
informed him: “If they want something, the big one is here, you know what I
mean? So they can do, so they can do something.” Gonzalez responded: “Yeah,
hell yeah! Fuck them Big Macs.” Gonzalez then called Mario Jimenez, informed
him of the situation, told him to “[g]et ahold of the homies,” and related that
Resendez “has something big . . . so that they could use it.” After talking with
Jimenez, Gonzalez called Resendez and told him that Jimenez was “down,” that
“he’ll probably come through and see you,” and that “[h]e knows exactly where
[the Big Macs are] at.” From this evidence, a rational factfinder could have found
that an overt act was taken in furtherance of the agreement to kill the Big Macs
Resendez saw at the intersection. See Von Villas, 11 Cal. App. 4th at 244.3
2. We find merit in Gonzalez’s contention that the district court erred in
applying a two-level enhancement for use of a minor in a crime pursuant to United
States Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 3B1.4. A district court may apply this
3
To be sure, the evidence with respect to some of the particular potential intended
victims of the conspiracy to murder rival gang members that were discussed in the wiretap
evidence may have been insufficient to support a finding of guilt for a conspiracy to murder
those particular victims. However, contrary to Gonzalez’s assertion, this circumstance does not
warrant reversal of Gonzalez’s conviction on Count Two. See Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S.
46, 49-51, 56-60 (1991).
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sentencing enhancement “[i]f the defendant used or attempted to use a person less
than eighteen years of age to commit the offense or assist in avoiding detection of,
or apprehension for, the offense.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.4.4 However, the enhancement
may be imposed “only if a preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that the
defendant ‘acted affirmatively to involve the minor in the crime.’” United States v.
Flores, 725 F.3d 1028, 1040 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting United States v. Jimenez, 300
F.3d 1166, 1169 (9th Cir. 2002)).
In this case, the district court identified three reasons why it believed that an
enhancement under § 3B1.4 was warranted: (1) Gonzalez “was involved in
recruiting younger members”; (2) the testimony of fellow gang member Isaac
Alvarez indicated that the 38th Street Gang used minors, including Alvarez, to
commit crimes; and (3) the court knew, both from other gang cases and from
sentencing other 38th Street Gang members, that it was “pretty common that
juveniles are used” by gangs. None of these reasons withstand scrutiny.
At the outset, the district court’s knowledge of the prevalence of the practice
of gangs using juveniles and Alvarez’s testimony that the 38th Street Gang used
minors tells us nothing about whether Gonzalez “acted affirmatively to involve [a]
4
The Guidelines provide that “‘[u]sed or attempted to use’ includes directing,
commanding, encouraging, intimidating, counseling, training, procuring, recruiting, or
soliciting.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.4 cmt. 1.
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minor in the crime.’” Flores, 725 F.3d at 1040 (quoting Jimenez, 300 F.3d at
1169). Additionally, neither the district court nor the Government identified any
evidence that showed that the “younger members” that Gonzalez recruited were
minors. Finally, although Alvarez joined the gang and committed crimes before
turning eighteen, neither the Government nor the district court pointed to any
evidence that Gonzalez used or attempted to use Alvarez when he was still a minor.
Alvarez was nineteen years old when he was arrested on January 22, 2010. Thus,
he was not a minor in July 2009, when Gonzalez informed Alvarez where he could
locate a gun. Although there is other evidence in the record where Gonzalez
arguably encouraged Alvarez to commit crimes on behalf of the gang, it is unclear
whether these events occurred when Alvarez was a minor.
Therefore, because the evidence “does not provide the necessary factual
underpinning for imposing the enhancement,” Flores, 725 F.3d at 1041, the district
court abused its discretion in imposing it. This error affected the district court’s
Guidelines calculation, so we must vacate Gonzalez’s sentence on all counts and
remand for resentencing. See id. at 1042.5
5
This conclusion renders consideration of Gonzalez’s challenge to the substantive
reasonableness of his sentence unnecessary. See Flores, 725 F.3d at 1042.
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3. Finally, the Government concedes that the district court erred in
sentencing Gonzalez in excess of the statutory maximum for Counts Two and Ten.
The VICAR offenses charged in Counts Two and Ten are subject to a ten-year
maximum prison sentence. See 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(5). The district court in this
case sentenced Gonzalez to concurrent terms of 300 months’ imprisonment on
each count. This was error.
AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.
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