[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUITU.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
JULY 30, 2010
No. 09-13779 JOHN LEY
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 08-00141-CR-01-TCB-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LIANG YANG,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
_________________________
(July 30, 2010)
Before EDMONDSON, MARCUS and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Liang Yang appeals his 60-month sentence imposed for conspiracy to bring
in and harbor illegal aliens, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I). No reversible error has
been shown; we affirm.
Yang challenges a four-level increase to his offense level for being an
organizer or leader of criminal activity, U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1. He contends that, based
on the limited time he was part of the conspiracy as only an employee at the
employment agencies, he was at most a manager or supervisor. We review a
district court’s determination about a defendant’s role in an offense for clear error.
United States v. Yates, 990 F.2d 1179, 1182 (11th Cir. 1993). The government
must prove the existence of an aggravating role by a preponderance of the
evidence. Id.
Pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a), a defendant’s base offense level should be
increased by four levels if “the defendant was an organizer or leader of a criminal
activity that involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive.”* A
manager or supervisor of criminal activity warrants a three-level increase. See §
3B1.1(b). Titles are not controlling in the analysis; factors to consider in
determining whether one is a leader or organizer include decision-making
*
Yang does not challenge that the criminal activity involved the requisite
number of participants or that it was otherwise extensive.
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authority, nature of participation in the commission of the offense, the claimed
right to a larger share of the fruits of the crime, degree of participation in planning
or organizing the offense, and the degree of control and authority exercised over
others. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, comment. (n.4).
Here, the government’s case centered on several employment agencies that
arranged unlawful employment at Chinese restaurants, used drivers to transport
illegal aliens to the restaurants locally and throughout the United States, and
collected referral fees. The evidence showed that Yang’s involvement in this
criminal activity included (1) speaking with restaurants about their employment
needs and placing employees in various restaurants; (2) brokering a deal between
an employment agency owner who employed him and another employment agency
owner to place workers in restaurants and split the fee; (3) taking over the
operations of his codefendant’s agency because the agency lacked business and
Yang had a reputation among Chinese restaurants on the east coast for providing
illegal workers; and (4) hiring drivers, telling them where to take workers,
receiving the placement fees from the drivers, and paying the drivers’ commissions
from those fees.
On these facts, we discern no clear error in the district court’s determination
that Yang was a leader of the criminal activity. That Yang participated in the
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conspiracy for only a few months or that he viewed himself as merely an employee
of the agencies does not alter the leadership role he carried out in making decisions
about how the agencies were run, exercising control over the drivers, and partaking
in a larger share of the profits. See id.
Yang also challenges the substantive reasonableness of his sentence, arguing
that his co-conspirators received lower sentences than he despite being at least as
culpable as he was. We evaluate the substantive reasonableness of a sentence
under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 128 S.Ct.
586, 597 (2007).
The party challenging the reasonableness of the sentence bears the burden of
establishing that the sentence is unreasonable in the light of both the record and the
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. United States v. Talley, 431 F.3d 784, 788 (11th Cir.
2005). Under section 3553(a), a district court should consider the nature and
circumstances of the offense, the history and characteristics of the defendant, the
need for the sentence to provide adequate deterrence, respect for the law, and
protection of the public, policy statements of the Sentencing Commission,
provision for the medical and educational needs of the defendant, and the need to
avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1)-(7).
We conclude that Yang’s 60-month sentence -- the statutory maximum, but
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also within his guidelines range of 57 to 60 months -- was reasonable. See Talley,
431 F.3d at 788 (noting that “ordinarily we would expect a sentence within the
Guidelines range to be reasonable”). Yang was responsible for placing at least 100
illegal aliens into employment, and he had a reputation among Chinese restaurants
as a reliable provider of illegal workers. And, as the district court noted in
concluding that the statutory maximum was appropriate, the conspiracy was
extensive and far-reaching and Yang knew about previous prosecutions of other
agency owners involved in the same conduct. So, Yang was aware of the illegality
of his acts but undertook them anyway.
Yang’s argument that his codefendants and defendants in related cases
received lower sentences resulting in a sentencing disparity is unavailing.
Concerns about disparate sentences among co-conspirators are not implicated
where, as here, appellant and his codefendant and other offenders are not similarly
situated. Because Yang proceeded to trial but others involved in the offense
pleaded guilty pursuant to plea agreements and offered substantial assistance to the
government, the disparity in their sentences was not “unwarranted.” See United
States v. Williams, 526 F.3d 1312, 1323 (11th Cir. 2008). And here, Yang alone
was found to be an organizer or leader of the conspiracy so “it was well within the
bounds of reasonableness” under section 3553(a) for the district court to impose a
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lengthier sentence on him than on the other offenders. See United States v.
Thomas, 446 F.3d 1348, 1357 (11th Cir. 2006).
The district court abused no discretion when it rejected Yang’s argument for
parity with his co-conspirators and determined that a 60-month sentence was
reasonable under the circumstances.
AFFIRMED.
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