16‐1111‐cr United States v. Latchman Singh UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT August Term 2016 (Argued: February 23, 2017 Decided: December 12, 2017) Docket No. 16‐1111‐cr UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, ‐ against ‐ LATCHMAN SINGH, Defendant‐Appellant. ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Before: KEARSE, HALL, and CHIN, Circuit Judges. Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Forrest, J.) convicting defendant‐appellant, upon his guilty plea, of illegally reentering the United States after having been removed following a conviction for an aggravated felony. Defendant‐appellant contends that his sentence of 60 monthsʹ imprisonment ‐‐ which was nearly three times the top of the applicable Guidelines range ‐‐ was both procedurally and substantively unreasonable. VACATED AND REMANDED. DINA MCLEOD , Assistant United States Attorney (Micah W.J. Smith, Assistant United States Attorney, on the brief), for Joon H. Kim, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, New York, for Appellee. COLLEN P. CASSIDY, Federal Defenders of New York, Inc., New York, New York, for Defendant‐ Appellant. CHIN, Circuit Judge: In this case, defendant‐appellant Latchman Singh pleaded guilty to one count of illegally reentering the United States after having been removed following a conviction for an aggravated felony. His Guidelines range was 15 to 21 monthsʹ imprisonment, and both the government and the Probation Office recommended a within‐Guidelines sentence. The district court, however, sentenced Singh to a term of imprisonment of 60 months ‐‐ nearly three times the top of the Guidelines range. ‐2‐ Singh appeals, contending that the sentence was both procedurally and substantively unreasonable. For the reasons set forth below, we vacate the sentence and remand for further proceedings. Singhʹs request that we order reassignment of the case to a different judge is denied. BACKGROUND A. The Facts The facts are largely undisputed and are summarized as follows: 1. Singhʹs Personal History Singh was born in Guyana on September 9, 1971, and has never been a citizen of the United States. He was one of five children, and he and his family moved to the United States when he was still a child. After residing with Singhʹs uncle in Florida for a year, the family moved to New York City. Although his parents separated, they both still live in the Bronx. Three of his siblings also live in the Bronx, and one lives in upstate New York. In 1997, Singh married a woman who was a permanent resident of the United States. Together they had a daughter, now approximately seventeen years old. Before his arrest, he lived with his wife and their daughter in the Bronx and had a positive relationship with both. ‐3‐ 2. The Offense Conduct Singh was convicted in the Southern District of New York of larceny and postal theft on February 22, 1995. He was thereafter sentenced to twelve monthsʹ imprisonment. The conviction qualified as an aggravated felony within the meaning ...
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