United States v. Jesse Saldana
Opinion
Opinion
Nelson, J.
OVERVIEW
The United States appeals the five-year probation sentence for Jesse Saldana who pled guilty to three cocaine charges and stipulated to facts in the plea agreement which established food stamp fraud offenses. The Government objects to the district court’s disregard of the food stamp fraud offenses in the calculation of the base offense level under the sentencing guidelines. We vacate and remand for resentencing.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On September 18,1992, Jesse Saldana was indicted on twelve counts of food stamp fraud in violation of 7 U.S.C. § 2024 (b)(1) and three counts of distribution of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). Pursuant to Fed. R.Crim.P. 11(e)(1)(B), the Government and Saldana entered into a plea agreement. The plea agreement provided that Saldana would plead guilty to the three cocaine distribution charges and in exchange, the Government agreed to move to dismiss the twelve food stamp fraud charges. The plea agreement also required Saldana to stipulate to certain facts “for purposes of the sentencing guidelines.” In the plea agreement, Saldana stipulated, among other facts, that: