Jonathan Guerra Blanco v. United States

When a defendant has entered a plea of guilty to the offense of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §2339B(a)(1), or attempting to violate that statute, or has been convicted of that offense after trial, is it permissible for the Court when determining the appropriate sentencing guideline calculation, to impose the twelve (12) level so-called “terrorism enhancement” pursuant to U.S.S.G. §3A1.4(a) and (b), without making specific findings that are supported by evidence in the record, that the defendant’s actions were calculated (i.e. intended) to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government, or that he had the specific intent to do so, or is it sufficient to find that the defendant merely provided material support to an organization that he knew was engaged in terrorist activity or terrorism. In other words, to justify the application of the harsh twelve (12) level enhancement provided for in U.S.S.G. §3A1.4(a) and (b), and the criminal history category of VI, does the fact that a defendant has merely pled guilty to providing or attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization per se or automatically invoke the terrorism enhancement.