United States v. Antonio Gastelum-Juarez

Good Law
670 F. App'x 513
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitNovember 3, 201614-50473California214 words

Opinion

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

Antonio Gastelum-Juarez appeals from the district court’s judgment and challenges the 70-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for importation of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 and 960. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we vacate and remand.

Gastelum-Juarez argues that the district court erred in denying a minor role reduction to his base offense level under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b). After Gastelum-Jua-rez was sentenced, the United States Sentencing Commission issued Amendment 794 (“the Amendment”), which amended the commentary to the minor role Guideline. The Amendment is retroactive to cases pending on direct appeal. See United States v. Quintero-Leyva, 823 F.3d 519, 523 (9th Cir. 2016).

Among other things, the Amendment added a non-exhaustive list of factors that a court “should consider” in determining whether to apply a minor role reduction. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 cmt. n.3(C) (2015). Because we cannot determine from the record whether the district court considered all of those factors in determining whether Gastelum-Juarez was entitled to a minor role adjustment, we vacate Gaste-lum-Juarez’s sentence and remand…

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