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Do It For The Caselaw
Do It For The Caselaw
Do It For The Caselaw

Federal appellate decisions, explained in plain English for working lawyers and legal operators.

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Case Explained: Nos. 24-1881, 24-1882 UNITED STATES v. MARCUS MELLO APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE [Hon. John A. Woodcock, Jr., U.S. District Judge] Before Barron, Chief Judge Howard and Kayatta, Circuit Judges Marie Theriault for appellant Brian S. Kleinbord, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Craig M. Wolff, Acting United States Attorney, was on brief for appellee January 7, 2026 Case: 24-1882 Document: 00118387885 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/07/2026 Entry ID: 6777130 – 2 – HOWARD, Circuit Judge. In May 2021, Marcus Mello was charged with several drug-related offenses, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and the possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C § 924(c)(1)(A). After failing to appear for trial, he was also charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 3146(a)(1). Mello pleaded guilty to all charges. The district court calculated his aggregate incarcerative sentencing range under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (the “Guidelines” or “U.S.S.G.”) to be 228 months to 270 months but varied below that range and selected a sentence of 181 months’ imprisonment. Mello appeals his sentence on both procedural and substantive grounds. We affirm I. Background As this appeal follows Mello’s guilty plea, we draw the facts from the presentence investigation report (“PSR”) and the sentencing record. United States v. Diaz-Serrano, 77 F.4th 41, 44 (1st Cir. 2023) A. Drug-Offense Conduct Mello’s drug-offense conduct stems from his distribution of purported oxycodone pills containing fentanyl that he obtained from a supplier known as “Chop.” Mello made one such sale of purported “percs” — referring to Percocet, a brand name for a prescription painkiller that contains oxycodone — to customer “A.K.” on May 8, 2020. Earlier that day, A.K. texted Mello, asking Case: 24-1882 Document: 00118387885 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/07/2026 Entry ID: 6777130 – 3 – whether she could “get 12 today” and, after Mello confirmed a few hours later that he “just got em,” arranged to meet with him in South Portland, Maine. A.K.’s friend “C.C.” drove with her to meet with Mello, and the two women used some of the pills purchased Shortly after A.K.’s meeting with Mello, law enforcement officers responded to a report of an unconscious female in a car parked at a gas station in Kennebunk, Maine. The officers found C.C. conscious but lethargic in the driver’s seat of the vehicle A.K. was unresponsive in the passenger seat and was soon pronounced deceased. The Kennebunk Medical Examiner’s Office issued a report finding that A.K. died from acute toxicity from several substances including fentanyl. In performing its examination, the office found a plastic bag of ten blue pills in A.K.’s possession. The pills were tested and determined to contain fentanyl The day after A.K.’s death, C.C. messaged Mello to ask what was in the pills he sold A.K. and told him that A.K. had “died after doing 1 of your pills.” After this conversation, Mello continued to sell “percs,” including to a confidential informant (“CI”) working with law enforcement. During a monitored call with the CI on July 15, 2020, Mello stated that he was out of cocaine but had “percs” for sale. The CI subsequently purchased eight blue pills from Mello. Law enforcement tested one of the pills Case: 24-1882 Document: 00118387885 Page: 3 Date Filed: 01/07/2026 Entry ID: 6777130 – 4 – purchased, finding that it weighed 0.113 grams and contained fentanyl Two days later, Mello was arrested. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing a backpack and had a cell phone in his pocket. The phone was seized, and a search of the backpack resulted in the seizure of $6,354 in cash, a loaded handgun, a small amount of marijuana,1 ten white pills in a clear baggie, and 417 blue pills marked “M 30” divided into plastic baggies Laboratory results revealed that the 417 blue pills weighed approximately 45.6 grams in total (approximately 0.10927 grams per pill). Twenty-eight blue pills were randomly selected for testing and were determined to contain fentanyl. One of the ten white pills was also tested. It weighed approximately 0.38 grams and was found to be oxycodone Mello’s phone was searched pursuant to a federal search warrant. This search led to the discovery of WhatsApp messages between Chop and Mello, spanning from March 2020 to July 2020. In these communications, Mello and Chop discussed the shipment of “percs” to Mello’s address, as well as Mello’s successful sale of the pills. On several occasions, the pair also made references to “stick[s],” a slang term for fentanyl. The messages included 1 The marijua

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May 31, 2026

Case Explained: Nos. 24-1881, 24-1882 UNITED STATES v. MARCUS MELLO APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE [Hon. John A. Woodcock, Jr., U.S. District Judge] Before Barron, Chief Judge Howard and Kayatta, Circuit Judges Marie Theriault for appellant Brian S. Kleinbord, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Craig M. Wolff, Acting United States Attorney, was on brief for appellee January 7, 2026 Case: 24-1881 Document: 00118387885 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/07/2026 Entry ID: 6777130 – 2 – HOWARD, Circuit Judge. In May 2021, Marcus Mello was charged with several drug-related offenses, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and the possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C § 924(c)(1)(A). After failing to appear for trial, he was also charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 3146(a)(1). Mello pleaded guilty to all charges. The district court calculated his aggregate incarcerative sentencing range under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (the “Guidelines” or “U.S.S.G.”) to be 228 months to 270 months but varied below that range and selected a sentence of 181 months’ imprisonment. Mello appeals his sentence on both procedural and substantive grounds. We affirm I. Background As this appeal follows Mello’s guilty plea, we draw the facts from the presentence investigation report (“PSR”) and the sentencing record. United States v. Diaz-Serrano, 77 F.4th 41, 44 (1st Cir. 2023) A. Drug-Offense Conduct Mello’s drug-offense conduct stems from his distribution of purported oxycodone pills containing fentanyl that he obtained from a supplier known as “Chop.” Mello made one such sale of purported “percs” — referring to Percocet, a brand name for a prescription painkiller that contains oxycodone — to customer “A.K.” on May 8, 2020. Earlier that day, A.K. texted Mello, asking Case: 24-1881 Document: 00118387885 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/07/2026 Entry ID: 6777130 – 3 – whether she could “get 12 today” and, after Mello confirmed a few hours later that he “just got em,” arranged to meet with him in South Portland, Maine. A.K.’s friend “C.C.” drove with her to meet with Mello, and the two women used some of the pills purchased Shortly after A.K.’s meeting with Mello, law enforcement officers responded to a report of an unconscious female in a car parked at a gas station in Kennebunk, Maine. The officers found C.C. conscious but lethargic in the driver’s seat of the vehicle A.K. was unresponsive in the passenger seat and was soon pronounced deceased. The Kennebunk Medical Examiner’s Office issued a report finding that A.K. died from acute toxicity from several substances including fentanyl. In performing its examination, the office found a plastic bag of ten blue pills in A.K.’s possession. The pills were tested and determined to contain fentanyl The day after A.K.’s death, C.C. messaged Mello to ask what was in the pills he sold A.K. and told him that A.K. had “died after doing 1 of your pills.” After this conversation, Mello continued to sell “percs,” including to a confidential informant (“CI”) working with law enforcement. During a monitored call with the CI on July 15, 2020, Mello stated that he was out of cocaine but had “percs” for sale. The CI subsequently purchased eight blue pills from Mello. Law enforcement tested one of the pills Case: 24-1881 Document: 00118387885 Page: 3 Date Filed: 01/07/2026 Entry ID: 6777130 – 4 – purchased, finding that it weighed 0.113 grams and contained fentanyl Two days later, Mello was arrested. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing a backpack and had a cell phone in his pocket. The phone was seized, and a search of the backpack resulted in the seizure of $6,354 in cash, a loaded handgun, a small amount of marijuana,1 ten white pills in a clear baggie, and 417 blue pills marked “M 30” divided into plastic baggies Laboratory results revealed that the 417 blue pills weighed approximately 45.6 grams in total (approximately 0.10927 grams per pill). Twenty-eight blue pills were randomly selected for testing and were determined to contain fentanyl. One of the ten white pills was also tested. It weighed approximately 0.38 grams and was found to be oxycodone Mello’s phone was searched pursuant to a federal search warrant. This search led to the discovery of WhatsApp messages between Chop and Mello, spanning from March 2020 to July 2020. In these communications, Mello and Chop discussed the shipment of “percs” to Mello’s address, as well as Mello’s successful sale of the pills. On several occasions, the pair also made references to “stick[s],” a slang term for fentanyl. The messages included 1 The marijua