United States v. St. Pierre, No. 17-3657 (8th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting second degree murder. The Eighth Circuit held that the government did not breach the plea agreement when it recommended a sentence within the agreed-upon range. Furthermore, the government's statement that it adopted the amended presentence investigation report that included an enhancement for obstruction of justice did not breach the plea agreement. The court held that defendant's remaining claims fell within the scope of the appeal waiver. Finally, even if the court considered the merits of defendant's alleged procedural and substantive sentencing errors, the court would affirm the district court's judgment. In this case, the district court considered the sentencing factors, issued a within-Guidelines sentence that was presumptively reasonable, and did not abuse its discretion.
Court Description: Shepherd, Author, with Kelly and Stras, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. The government agreed to recommend a sentence within the agreed-upon Guidelines range and it consistently did so; its conduct in stating it "adopted" the amended PSR, which added an enhancement for obstruction of justice, did not breach the plea agreement; the remainder of defendant's issues fall within the scope of the appeal waiver in his knowing and voluntary guilty plea; even if the court considered the merits of defendant's sentencing arguments, it would affirm the district court's decision as the court explicitly considered and rejected defendant's sentencing disparity argument and did not abuse its discretion in weighing the 3553(a) factors. Judge Stras, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. [ January 10, 2019
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.