United States v. Sarabia-Martinez, No. 14-50064 (5th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pleaded guilty to illegal reentry after removal and subsequently appealed his sentence. Defendant argued that the district court plainly erred by treating his prior Florida "Trafficking in Methamphetamine 14 Grams or More" conviction as a drug trafficking offense in applying a sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2L1.2. The court held that defendant's prior conviction does not categorically constitute a drug trafficking conviction for purposes of the sentencing guidelines and the district court plainly erred by relying on the pre-sentencing report in applying the sentence enhancement. The error affected defendant's substantial rights and, therefore, the court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing.
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.