Topic
Every decision we've filed under Guidelines Departure.
The Eighth Circuit reversed a sentencing enhancement applied to a defendant convicted of drug trafficking while on pretrial release. The court held that the district court erred by applying a leadership enhancement without finding that the defendant organized or supervised another participant.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal challenging a sentence and the application of special assessments. The court held that the defendant's plea agreement contained a valid waiver of appeal rights and that the notice of appeal failed to properly designate the order regarding the special assessments.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a criminal sentence despite finding the government breached a plea agreement. The court held that the breach did not affect the outcome because the district court provided independent reasons for the upward variance.
The First Circuit vacated a drug trafficking sentence because the district court erred in defining the universe of participants for a mitigating role adjustment. The court affirmed the dangerous weapon enhancement and the denial of a duress departure but remanded for resentencing.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a sixty-month prison sentence for a defendant convicted of escaping custody. The court rejected challenges to the sentencing guidelines calculation and the substantive reasonableness of the term imposed.
The Tenth Circuit dismissed the appeal of a defendant convicted of unlawful reentry after appointed counsel filed an Anders brief asserting the appeal was frivolous.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a 156-month prison sentence for a defendant convicted of child sex trafficking conspiracy. The court found the district court's upward variance from the sentencing guidelines was not substantively unreasonable given the defendant's history of violence and obstruction of justice.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and life sentences of Justin Case Lebarron for drug trafficking offenses resulting in death. The court held that the penalty enhancement under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) applies without requiring proof of proximate cause.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's sentencing decision in the case of Alondra Rebolledo. The court found no clear error in the drug-premises enhancement and upheld the denial of a downward variance.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a criminal sentence for a defendant convicted of drug trafficking and making credible threats of violence. The court held that the district court properly applied a sentencing enhancement for threats and did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the defendant's arguments for a lower sentence.