United States v. Romero

The First Circuit vacated Defendant’s sentence and remanded for resentencing, holding that the presentencing report erroneously applied an enhancement, but for which his United States Sentencing Guidelines range would have been lower.Defendant pleaded guilty to unlawful re-entry into the United States. The district court sentenced Defendant to a term of forty-two months in prison. On appeal, Defendant claimed for the first time that the district court’s application of a four-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2L1.2(b)(2)(D) was in error. Without the enhancement, Defendant’s Guidelines range would be thirty to thirty-seven months instead of forty-six to fifty-seven months. The First Circuit vacated the sentence, holding (1) application of the section 2L1.2(b)(2)(D) enhancement was a clear and obvious error that affected Defendant’s substantial rights; and (2) Defendant’s Guidelines range was more than a year higher than it should have been, and resentencing was clearly warranted. View "United States v. Romero" on Justia Law