United States v. Ortiz, No. 12-2190 (1st Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseDefendant entered a guilty plea to possession of ammunition by a convicted felon pursuant to a plea agreement. The probation department recommended a guideline sentencing range (GSR) of up to twenty-seven months based in part on Defendant’s contempt conviction. At a disposition hearing, defense counsel argued that the contempt conviction had been imposed in violation of Puerto Rico laws. The district court refused to lower the GSR on this basis and imposed a thirty-six-month incarcerative sentence. Thirteen days later, defense counsel filed a Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(a) motion to reconsider judgment and sentence. Before the district court took any action on the matter, defense counsel filed a notice of appeal. The district court subsequently denied the Rule 35(a) motion. The First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Defendant’s sentence and remanded for resentencing, holding (1) Defendant’s original notice of appeal did not create appellate jurisdiction to review the district court’s disposition of the Rule 35(a) motion; but (2) the Court had jurisdiction to review Defendant’s claim of procedural error in the imposition of the sentence itself, and the district court erred in its imposition of the sentence.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.