United States v. Khalil
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Defendant Choudry Muhammad Khalil appeals from a judgment of the District Court (Mauskopf, J.) following his conviction for (1) smuggling, conspiring to smuggle, transporting, conspiring to transport, and harboring an alien in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324; (2) transferring and conspiring to transfer false identification documents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028; and (3) making false statements to federal agents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. On appeal, Khalil argues that the District Court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal on several counts of conviction, constructively amended the indictment, and misapplied the United States Sentencing Guidelines. In a separate opinion filed simultaneously with this order, we reverse Khalil’s conviction for violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) (Count Four) and remand for the District Court to dismiss Count Four. We assume the parties’ familiarity with that separate opinion and with the facts and record of the prior proceedings, to which we refer only as necessary to explain our decision to affirm in part and reverse in part.
First, Khalil challenges his convictions for harboring and conspiring to transport an alien, Ehsan Ullah, within the United States on the ground that Ullah was legally in the United States at the time he stayed in Khalil’s apartment. We disagree. Trial evidence showed that Khalil instructed or encouraged Ullah to lie to immigration officers and to submit a knowingly false asylum application in order to remain in the United States, and thereafter arranged for Ullah to live in Khalil’s apartment. That evidence is sufficient to show that Khalil’s conduct was “intended to facilitate an alien’s remaining in the United States illegally and to prevent detection by the authorities of the alien’s unlawful presence.” United States v. Vargas-Cordon, 733 F.3d 366, 382 (2d Cir. 2013).
Khalil also argues, for the first time on appeal, that the District Court constructively amended the indictment because the jury instructions did not indicate what specific conduct underlay count four (transporting an alien). But the Government’s summation made clear that it “relates ... to ... the transportation of Rafique to Penn Station and then on to Canada,” App’x 1355, and so we discern no plain error in the District Court’s instructions.
Finally, we reject Khalil’s challenges to his sentence.
We have considered Khalil’s remaining arguments that are not the subject of the opinion we issue simultaneously with this summary order and conclude that they are without merit. For the reasons stated herein and in the separate opinion accompanying this order, the judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED with instructions for the District Court to dismiss Count Four and for de novo resen-tencing.
. Because, as noted, we reverse Khalil’s conviction under § 1324(a)( 1 )(A)(ii) by separate opinion, we remand to the District Court for de novo resentencing, expressing no view on whether the District Court should impose a lower sentence. See United States v. Powers, 842 F.3d 177, 179-180 (2d Cir. 2016) (per curiam).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Choudry Muhammad KHALIL
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published