United States v. Carlos Mendoza-Padilla

Carlos Mendoza-Padilla pled guilty to one count of illegal re-entry after deportation. The district court applied a 16-level increase to Mendoza-Padilla’s base offense level based on his prior manslaughter conviction under Florida law. We now consider in light of United States Supreme Court guidance whether manslaughter, as defined by Florida Statute § 782.07, constitutes a crime of violence under the United States Sentencing Guidelines § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A). We hold that it does not. Accordingly, we vacate Mendoza-Padilla’s sentence and remand for resentencing.

I

Carlos Mendoza-Padilla came to the United States as a teenager in 1998. In 2003, he was convicted of manslaughter under Florida Statute § 782.07. Mendoza-Padilla was deported and re-entered the United States several times. In 2014, Mendoza-Padilla pled guilty without a plea agreement to one count of illegal re-entry after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . The probation officer calculated the base offense level as 8 under the United States Sentencing Guidelines § 2L1.2(a) and increased the base level by 16 under § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A) because he understandably believed that Mendoza-Padilla’s Florida…