United States v. Santos Luis Serrano

Santos Luis Serrano appeals his conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine based on several alleged sentencing errors. Because it is unclear whether the district court accepted the sentence term of Serrano’s plea agreement, we remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

Serrano was indicted of various drug-related charges. He agreed to plead guilty to one possession count in exchange for the government’s promise to dismiss the other counts. The plea agreement also provided:

Finally, the agreement contained a waiver of Serrano’s right to appeal.

At the plea hearing, the court informed Serrano that, although his agreement provided for a specific sentence, the court was free to disregard the stipulated sentence term (presumably after it had an opportunity to review the presentence report). The court further stated that, if it determined that a different sentence was appropriate, Serrano would be permitted to withdraw his plea pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(e)(4).

Thereafter, a presentence report was prepared which recommended a two-level increase for possession of a revolver and a two-level reduction for acceptance…