United States v. Jauregui, No. 16-50429 (9th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseConsistent with the Sixth Amendment's jury trial guarantee, defendant's sentence for conspiracy to import methamphetamine could not be sustained solely by his admission that he conspired to import marijuana but it was "reasonably foreseeable" that methamphetamine would be imported. Therefore, the Ninth Circuit held that the district court plainly erred by imposing a sentence that exceeded the statutory maximum for conspiracy to import marijuana. Accordingly, the panel vacated defendant's sentence and remanded for resentencing.
Court Description: Criminal Law. Vacating a sentence and remanding for resentencing, the panel held that a sentence for conspiracy to import methamphetamine cannot, consistent with the Sixth Amendment’s jury trial guarantee, be sustained solely by the defendant’s admission that he conspired to import marijuana but that it was “reasonably foreseeable that the controlled substance may be methamphetamine.” The panel held that the district court erred in imposing a sentence exceeding the statutory maximum for conspiracy to import marijuana based on this admission, and that under plain error review, reversal is warranted. Concurring, Judge Berzon wrote separately to emphasize the confusion that United States v. Banuelos, 322 F.3d 700 (9th Cir. 2003), has wrought, and to suggest that this court should reconsider it en banc. Dissenting, District Judge Castel wrote that there was no plain error in sentencing the defendant for participation in a conspiracy to import methamphetamine, and that on this record he does not believe the defendant can be sentenced lawfully for the crime of conspiracy to import marijuana, a crime for which he has been neither charged nor convicted.
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