UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT ________________________________

No. 00-20796 ________________________________

United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

Filiberto Velasquez-Rojas, aka Pedro Gonzales, III, aka John Doe, aka Filiberto Rojas Velazquez, aka Pedro Gonzales, III, Defendant-Appellant. _____________________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court For the Southern District of Texas (H-00-CR-255-1) _____________________________________________ February 12, 2001

Before REYNALDO G. GARZA, DAVIS, and JONES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Filiberto Velasquez-Rojas plead guilty to one count of making

a false statement in an application for a passport in violation of

and one count of possession of a false

identification document with intent to use such document to defraud

the United States in violation of

(a)(4). The

district court determined a total offense level of 6 for these

charges, which corresponded to an imprisonment range of 0 to 6

months. However, the district court decided to depart upward to a

total offense level of 10, which corresponded to an imprisonment

* Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4. range of 6 to 12 months. The district court did so on the grounds

that the harm done to Pedro Gonzales, III, whose identity

Velasquez-Rojas had assumed, would otherwise go unpunished.

Accordingly, the district court sentenced Velasquez-Rojas to

concurrent sentences of 12 months imprisonment and 3 years

supervised release on each count, concurrent fines of $2000 on each

count, and a special assessment of $200.

Velasquez-Rojas now appeals his sentence on the grounds that

there was no evidence to support the district court’s upward

departure in this case and that there are no features of this case

to remove it from the “heartland” of cases arising under U.S.S.G.

§ 2L2.2. Because we find that the district court did not abuse its

discretion in departing upward in this case, we affirm Velasquez-

Rojas’ sentence.

We review a district court’s decision to depart from the

Sentencing Guidelines for an abuse of discretion. Koon v. United

States,

(1996). The PSR, the factual findings of

which the district court adopted, established that the true Pedro

Gonzales, III, whose identity Velasquez-Rojas adopted, was assessed

back taxes and penalties by the IRS in 1998 that he did not owe as

a result of Velasquez-Rojas using Gonzales’ social security number

as his taxpayer identification number. Gonzales also had problems

claiming unemployment benefits for the same reason. The PSR also

established that Velasquez-Rojas bought merchandise on credit he

obtained in Gonzales’ name, thereby damaging Gonzales’ credit

-2- history. Factual findings in a PSR are sufficient to support a

district court’s factual findings for sentencing purposes. United

States v. Alford,

(5th Cir. 1998). Velasquez-

Rojas did not object to these findings in the district court and

does not establish that they were plainly erroneous now.

Whether a case falls within the “heartland” of cases

encompassed by a particular provision of the Sentencing Guidelines

is entrusted to the discretion of the district court. Koon,

. When a particular provision of the Sentencing

Guidelines does not take into account certain encouraged factors,

and when those factors are present in a particular case, then the

district court may depart upward at its discretion. Koon,

. § 2L2.2 of the Sentencing Guidelines, which is applicable

to this case, does not take into account loss to a person whose

identity is assumed by a defendant. Such loss is also an

encouraged factor for departure per § 5K2.5 of the Sentencing

Guidelines. Neither does § 2L2.2 take into account its subject

offense being committed to facilitate another criminal purpose. In

this case, Velasquez-Rojas committed these offenses to facilitate

his use of Gonzales’ social security number, in violation of

. § 5K2.9 of the Sentencing Guidelines encourages

departure for these reasons.

The district court properly found that Gonzales was harmed by

the actions of Velasquez-Rojas. These harms would not otherwise be

punished unless the district court departed upward in its sentence.

-3- Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

AFFIRMED.

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