United States v. Jewel Aquino

Appellant Jewel Aquino challenges (1) the district court’s finding that she lied to her probation officer when she denied using any “illicit drugs” and (2) a special condition of supervised release that prohibits her from knowingly using or possessing any substance that she “believe[s] is intended to mimic” the effects of a controlled substance. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we vacate Aquino’s sentence and remand for resen-tencing.

I. FACTS

Aquino pleaded guilty to one count of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1591 (a)(1), (b)(2), and was sentenced to thirty-three months of incarceration followed by three years of supervised release with numerous standard and special conditions. Standard Condition No. 3 required Aquino to “answer truthfully all inquiries by the probation officer.”

Upon release from prison, Aquino did poorly on supervised release, with a series of violations in 2013 (including a violation of Standard Condition No. 3). The district court sentenced her to nine months’ imprisonment, followed by twenty-four months of supervised release. •

Aquino stumbled again in 2014. On May 28, 2014, her probation officer called her about a missed mandatory…