UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Roberto Escobar FLORES, Defendant-Appellant

Defendant Roberto Escobar Flores, who pleaded guilty to two counts of maintaining and controlling a place for the purpose of manufacturing controlled substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 856 , appeals his sentence of 51 months. We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3742 and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We conclude that the district court clearly erred by denying Flores a two-level downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility and that it miscalculated his criminal history points. We vacate Flores’ sentence and remand for resentencing in accordance with this opinion.

I. ACCEPTANCE OF RESPONSIBILITY

A. Factual Background

Flores pleaded guilty to two counts of a five-count indictment, and the government agreed to dismiss the other charges; Flores entered the plea two months after being indicted. At his presentence interview, Flores did not discuss the offense with the probation officer, but instead submitted a short statement a few weeks later, in June 1994, which said:

The officer found this statement was “generic,” inadequate, and not warranting a de crease in offense level for acceptance of responsibility. See U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 (Nov. 1990) (If defendant “clearly demonstrates a…