Grant

MEMORANDUM **

The United States appeals the district court’s imposition of a sentence below the mandatory minimum required by 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1) for Defendant Grant following his guilty plea to violating 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1), (b)(l)(A)(iii). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (b)(1). We review de novo both the question of whether the district court possessed the authority to impose a sentence below the statutorily mandated minimum, United States v. Vilchez, 967 F.2d 1351, 1353 (9th Cir.1992), and the constitutionality of the sentence, United States v. Barajas-Avalos, 377 F.3d 1040, 1060 (9th Cir.2004), and we vacate and remand for re-sentencing.

We previously have held that, absent an applicable exception under 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553 (e) or (l), 1 district courts lack the authority to refuse to impose the mandatory minimum sentence required by 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1). See United States v. Haynes, 216 F.3d 789, 799-800 (9th Cir.2000). The Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 , 125 S.Ct. 738 , 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), does not alter this conclusion. See United Stakes v. Hernandez-Castro, 473 F.3d 1004, 1007 (9th…