United States v. Hernandez-Banega

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
United States v. Hernandez-Banega, 682 F. App'x 694 (10th Cir. 2017)

United States v. Hernandez-Banega

Opinion

ORDER

Defendant-Appellant Jimmy Joel Hernandez-Banega challenges his twenty-month term of imprisonment and three-year period of supervised release. He argues that the district court improperly applied a twelve-level sentencing enhancement under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines § 2L1.2(b)(l)(B). '

On March 15, 2017, however, the government filed a notice advising our court *695 that Mr. Hernandez-Banega was deported to Honduras following completion of the custodial portion of his sentence. Although Mr. Hernandez-Banega remains legally subject to a term of supervised release, his deportation means that he “has no obligation to report to a probation officer and is not under the supervision or control of the United States Probation Office.” United States v. Vera-Flores, 496 F.3d 1177, 1181 (10th Cir. 2007). Mr. Hernandez-Banega’s removal has therefore “eliminated all practical consequences associated with serving a term of supervised release,” id. at 1181, and he has no “actual injury which this court can remedy,” id. at 1182. Similarly, Mr. Hernandez-Banega “has failed to demonstrate the presence of collateral consequences arising from any alleged errors the ... district court made during [his] sentencing proceeding.” Id. And the mere possibility of his reentry (along with the attendant revival of his obligation to comply with his supervised-release conditions) is too speculative to avoid dismissal for mootness. See id. at 1181-82.

Accordingly, Mr. Hernandez-Banega’s removal has rendered this appeal moot. See id. at 1182 (dismissing an appeal on mootness grounds following deportation); see also United States v. Pena-Flores, 240 Fed.Appx. 281, 283 (10th Cir. 2007) (same), cert. denied, 552 U.S. 1281, 128 S.Ct. 1702, 170 L.Ed.2d 515 (2008). Therefore, this appeal is DISMISSED.

Reference

Full Case Name
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jimmy Joel HERNANDEZ-BANEGA, A/K/A Jimmy Cruz, A/K/A Jimmy Diaz, A/K/A Jimmy Diaz-Cruz, Defendant-Appellant
Status
Unpublished