United States v. Jose Sandoval, No. 22-2146 (8th Cir. 2023)
Annotate this Case
Defendant was arrested for narcotics and firearms charges. Once in custody, he made several inculpatory statements. However, prior to trial, he fled to Mexico for eight years before being apprehended. The district court denied Defendant's motion to suppress evidence based on a lack of probable cause and, at sentencing, the district court applied an obstruction-of-justice enhancement and rejected his request for an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The information contained in the affidavit was provided by an informant who had a history of providing reliable information. And, although Defendant pleaded guilty, the court did not err in denying his request for an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction based on Defendant's flight to Mexico.
Court Description: [Gruender, Author, with Colloton and Melloy, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and Sentencing. The affidavit submitted in support of the warrant application was sufficient to establish probable cause that defendant was involved in drug distribution and that evidence of the crime would be found in his home and car; no error in imposing an obstruction-of-justice enhancement or in denying defendant's request for an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction where defendant absconded to Mexico before his sentencing and lived there for nearly 8 years before surrendering to authorities.
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.