United States v. Enrique Buenrostro

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Enrique Buenrostro appeals the district court’s orders denying the parties’ joint stipulation for a sentence reduction and his motion to reconsider. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

After a guilty plea to a single count of heroin distribution near a school and aiding and abetting, Buenrostro received a sentence of 78 months of imprisonment. He later moved for a sentence reduction following a retroactive change to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The parties agree that Buenrostro is statutorily eligible for a sentence reduction under Amendment 782, and they agree on his new guideline range under the Amendment. The district court declined to reduce Buenrostro’s sentence under the revised guideline range, ruling that the original 78-month sentence was reasonable on the basis of several factors. Because our precedent required the district court to provide some explanation for rejecting a defendant’s non-frivolous arguments about post-sentencing rehabilitation, we vacate and remand for resentencing.

“A district court is required to ‘consider’ the § 3553(a) factors both in the initial imposition of a sentence and in any subsequent reduction of a…