United States v. Salinas

The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendants' sentences imposed after they pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport illegal aliens within the United States by means of a motor vehicle. One of the people defendants transported died from a heart attack while fleeing law enforcement.The court affirmed the district court's application of a 10 level enhancement under USSG 2L1.1 and held that defendants' conduct was the but-for cause of the alien's death. In United States v. Ramos-Delgado, the court held that the defendant's conduct must simply be the but-for cause of the death, not its proximate cause. Just as in Ramos-Delgado and United States v. Ruiz-Hernandez, defendants were fully responsible for placing the victim in a precarious position where subsequent but-for causes ultimately took his life. View "United States v. Salinas" on Justia Law