Case 1:18-cr-20104-MGC Document 61 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/19/2018 Page 1 of 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Case No. 18-20104-Cm COOKE(s) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA VS. ALl NASREDDINE KASSIR, Defendant. / PLEA AGREEM ENT The United States of America and Ali Nasreddine Kassir, a/k/a talec Kassirn' (hereinafter refen-ed to as the defendant') enter into the folowing agreement: The defendant agrees to plead guilty to counts 4 and 12 of the Indictm ent, w hich charges the defendant with passport fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1542 (Count 4), and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h) (Count 12). The Government agrees to dismiss the remaining counts, Counts 1-3 and 5-1 1, against the defendant at the tim e of sentencing. The defendant is awarethat the sentence will be imposed by the court after considering the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and Policy Statements (hereinafter dsentencing Guidelines'). The defendant acknowledges and understands that the court wil compute an advisory sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines and that the applicable guidelines w ill be determ ined by the court relying in part on the results of a Pre-sentence lnvestigation by the court's probation office, which investigation w ill com m ence after the guilty plea has been entered. The defendant is also aw are that, under certain circum stances, the court m ay depart from the advisory sentencing guideline range that it has com puted, and m ay raise or lower that advisory sentence
Case 1:18-cr-20104-MGC Document 61 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/19/2018 Page 2 of 7 under the Sentencing Guidelines. The defendant is further aw are and understands that the court is required to consider the advisory guideline range detennined under the Sentencing Guidelines, but is not bound to im pose that sentence; the court is pennitted to tailor the ultim ate sentence in light of other statutory concerns, and such sentence m ay be either m ore severe or less severe than the Sentencing Guidelines' advisory sentence. Know ing these facts, the defendant understands and acknowledges that the court has the authority to im pose any sentence w ithin and up to the statutory maximum autholized by 1aw for the ofensets) identified in paragraph 1 and that the defendant m ay not w ithdraw the plea solely as a result of the sentence im posed. The defendant also understands and acknow ledges that the court m ay im pose a statutory m axim um term of to 10 years as to Count 4, follow ed by a term of supervised release of up to 3 years and 20 years imprisonment as to Count 12, In addition to a term of imprisomnent and supervised release, the court m ay impose a fine of up to $250,000. The defendant further understands and acknow ledges that, in addition to any sentence imposed under paragraph 3 of this agreem ent, a special assessm ent in the am ount of $100 for each count, for a total of $200, wil be imposed on the defendant. The defendant agrees that any special assessm ent im posed sha l be paid at the tim e of sentencing. The Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida (hereinafter Isoffice'l reserves the right to inform the court and the probation ofice of a1l facts pertinent to the sentencing process, including all relevant inform ation concerning the offenses com m itted, w hether charged or not, as w ell as concerning the defendant and the defendant's background. Subject only to the express tenus of any agreed-upon sentencing recommendations
Case 1:18-cr-20104-MGC Document 61 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/19/2018 Page 3 of 7 contained in this agreem ent, this O ffice further reserves the right to m ake any recom m endation as to the quality and quantity of punishm ent. The United States agrees that it wil recom m end at sentencing that the court reduce by two levels the sentencing guideline level applicable to the defendant's offense, pursuant to Section 3E1.1(a) of the Sentencing Guidelines, based upon the defendant's recognition and aftinnative and tim ely acceptance of personal responsibility. lf at the tim e of sentencing the defendant's offense level is detennined to be 16 or greater, the governm ent w ill m ake a m otion requesting an additional one level decrease pursuant to Section 3E1. 1(b) of the Sentencing G uidelines, stating that the defendant has assisted authorities in the investigation or prosecution of his own m isconduct by tim ely notifying autholities of his intention to enter a plea of guilty, thereby perm itting the governm ent to avoid preparing for trial and perm iting the governm ent and the court to allocate their resources efticiently. The United States, how ever, w ill not be required to m ake these recom m endations if the defendant: a. fails or refuses to m ake a full, accurate and com plete disclosure to the probation office of the circum stances surrounding the relevant offense conduct; b. is found to have m isrepresented facts to the governm ent prior to entering into this plea agreem ent; or c. com m its any m isconduct after enteling into this plea agreem ent, including but not lim ited to com m itting a state or federal offense, violating any tenn of release, or m aking false statem ents or m isrepresentations to any governm ental entity or official. 3
Case 1:18-cr-20104-MGC Document 61 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/19/2018 Page 4 of 7 The United States and the defendant agree that, although not binding on the probation office or the court, they wil jointly recommend that the court make the following findings and conclusions as to the sentence to be im posed: a. Base o fense level: That, pursuant to Section 2S1. l and 2B 1. 1, the base offense level is 22 (6 plus 16 offense levels from the table in Section 281.1 because the offense involved between $1.5 milion and $3.5 milion). b. M oney launderinx enhancement: That, pursuant to Section 2S 1.1(b)(2)(B), a two-level enhancement applies for a money laundering conviction under 18 U.S.C. j 1956. c. Sophisticated means: That, pursuant to Section 251.1(b)(3), a two-level enhancement applies for the use of sophisticated m eans of laundering. d. Aam-avated role enhancem ent (m anager or supervisor): That, pursuant to Section 3B1. l (b), a three-level enhancement applies for being a manager or supervisor in a conspiracy involving tive or m ore people. e. Total offense level: That the total offense level, after a three-level reduction for early acceptance of responsibility, is 26. A ssum ing a Crim inal History Category 1, the sentencing guideline range is 63 to 78 m onths. The defendant agrees to forfeiture in the am ount of $ 150,000, which the United States will seek as a forfeiture moneyjudgment pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(a)(1). Defendant further agrees to satisfy the moneyjudgment byremitting to the United States the sum of $ 125,000.00 in United States currency in the fonn of a Cashier's Check payable to the United States M arshals Selwice within fourteen (14) days of the change of plea and agreeing that $25,000 wil come from the bond m oney currently posted with the Clerk of Court, which shal be irrevocably assigned to the U nited States and tunzed over for forfeiture upon com pletion of the Case.
Case 1:18-cr-20104-MGC Document 61 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/19/2018 Page 5 of 7 The defendant know ingly and voluntarily agrees to w aive any claim or defense to the forfeiture, of the $ l 50,000 described above, under the Eighth Am endment to the United States Constitution, including any claim of excessive fine or penalty with respect to any forfeited property, whether such property is forfeited through administrative or judicial proceedings. ln addition, the defendant agrees to waive any applicable time limits for administrative or judicial forfeiture proceedings. The defendant also agrees to w aive any appeal of the forfeiture. 10. The defendant is aware that the sentence has not yet been determ ined by the court. The defendant also is aw are that any estim ate of the probable sentencing range or sentence that the defendant m ay receive, whether that estim ate com es from the defendant's attorney, the governm ent, or the probation office, is a prediction, not a prom ise, and is not binding on the governm ent, the probation office or the court. The defendant understands further that any recom m endation that the governm ent m akes to the court as to sentencing, w hether pursuant to this agreement or otherwise, is not binding on the court and the court may disregard the recom m endation in its entirety. The defendant understands and acknow ledges, as previously acknow ledged in paragraph 3 above, that the defendant m ay not w ithdraw his plea based upon the court's decision not to accept a sentencing recom mendation m ade by the defendant, the govelmment, or a recommendation made jointly by both the defendant and the government. The defendant is aw are that Title 18, U nited States Code, Section 3742 and Title 28, U nited States Code, Section 1291 afford the defendant the right to appeal the sentence im posed in this case. A cknowledging this, in exchange for the undertakings m ade by the United States in this plea agreem ent, the defendant hereby w aives a l rights confen'ed by Sections 3742 and 1291 to appeal any sentence im posed, including any restitution or forfeiture order, or to appeal the m anner in which the sentence was imposed, unless the sentence exceeds the m axim um penuited by statute or is the result of an upward departure and/or an upward variance from the advisory 5
Case 1:18-cr-20104-MGC Document 61 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/19/2018 Page 6 of 7 guideline range that the Court establishes at sentencing. The defendant further understands that nothing in this agreem ent sha l affect the governm ent's right and/or duty to appeal as set forth in Title 18, United States Code, Section 3742417) and Title 28, United States Code, Section 1291. However, if the United States appeals the defendant's sentence pursuant to Sections 3742(17) and 1291, the defendant shal be released from the above waiver of appe late rights. By signing this agreem ent, the defendant acknowledges that the defendant has discussed the appeal w aiver set forth in this agreem ent with the defendant's attolmey. The defendant further hereby w aives al1 rights conferred by Title 28, United States Code, Section 1291 to assert any claim that (1) the statute to which the defendant is pleading guilty is unconstitutional', and/or (2) the admitted conduct does not fall within the scope of the statute of conviction. The defendant further agrees, together w ith the United States, to request that the Court enter a specific finding that the defendant's w aiver of the defendant's light to appeal the sentence to be im posed in this case w as knowing and voluntary. 12. Defendant recognizes that pleading guilty m ay have consequences w ith respect to the defendant's im m igration or naturalization status if the defendant is not a natural-born citizen of the United States. Under federal law, a broad range of crim es are rem ovable offenses, including the offenses to which defendant is pleading guilty. W hile the offenses to which the defendant is pleading guilty to w il not result in crim inal denaturalization, the defendant m ay be subject to civil denaturalization procedures as a consequence of pleading guilty to a crime. Removal, denaturalization, and other immigration consequences are the subject of a separate proceeding, however, and defendant understands that no one, including the defendant's atorney or the Court, can predict to a certainty the effect of the defendant's conviction on the defendant's im m igration status. D efendant nevertheless affin'ns that the defendant w ants to plead guilty 6
Case 1:18-cr-20104-MGC Document 61 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/19/2018 Page 7 of 7 regardless of any im m igration consequences that the defendant's plea m ay entail, even if the consequence is the defendant's denaturalization and autom atic rem oval from the U nited States. This is the entire agreem ent and understanding between this Office and the defendant. There are no other agreem ents, prom ises, representations, or understandings. Date:( t.v-f f' By: ARIANA FAJARDO ORSHAN UNITE TES ATTORNEY M ICHAEL E. THAKUR ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY Date: lï ( I q l l e B. Jn behpt F W EINER, ESQ. ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT oate: ïh l!uh l l T. ' A E NAHRA, ESQ. ATTORNEY FOR EFENDANT oate: -, /y ).èl% By: ALI NASRE DEFEN D T E KASSIR 7