US v. Thuy Luong: Luong, a native of Vietnam who became a United States citizen and was fluent in both English and Vietnamese, ran a nail salon in North Carolina. She hired Victim (it’s the only way she’s identified in the opinion), also a native of Vietnam who was not particularly fluent in English, to work at the salon, then subjected her to various forms of intimidation, extortion, and physical abuse. As a result, Luong was convicted at trial of forced labor. At sentencing, the district court imposed an enhancement for vulnerable victim and for permanent scarring, based on injuries Victim suffered at Luong’s hands. Luong was sentenced to 180 months in prison.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit vacated Luong’s sentence. The court concluded that the district court had erred in imposing the vulnerable victim enhancement, holding that the findings the district court made were not sufficiently specific to Victim. Instead, the district appeared to believe it sufficient that Victim was part of a “susceptible class” (an immigrant with limited English fluency) without “any particularized facts about the impact of that culture on the Victim.” Nor was there sufficient evidence in the PSR to show what “made the victim unusually vulnerable and why.” However, the court also concluded that the enhancement for permanent scarring was appropriately applied, finding the district court’s findings – based on Government assertions made a year prior to sentencing – were sufficient. The court remanded the case for resentencing.
No comments:
Post a Comment