United States v. Miguel Kercherval

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Miguel Kercherval (“Defendant”) appeals the sentence imposed in his criminal case. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

Defendant asserts that the district court erred in using the 2007 version of the Sentencing Guidelines because Defen dant’s crimes occurred in 2006. Defendant argues that using the 2007 Sentencing Guidelines violates the ex post facto clause because Defendant’s 1997 convictions would have been considered related under the 2006 Sentencing Guidelines, resulting in a reduced sentence. However, Defendant is mistaken. The district court correctly determined that the crimes are unrelated. Therefore, the district court correctly applied the 2007 Sentencing Guidelines.

The district court likewise did not err in concluding that it was not bound by a prior Nevada district court finding that Defendant’s 1997 convictions were related. We find no caselaw suggesting that one district court’s factual findings at sentencing restricts another district court’s discretion at a separate subsequent sentencing. Thus, the district court was not bound to consider the 1997 convictions as related offenses for determining career offender status,…