United States v. Martinez-Cruz

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Defendant-appellant Jesus Domingo Martinez-Cruz appealed the district court’s twelve-level enhancement of his sentence under United States Sentencing Guideline (the Guidelines) section 2L1.2, Application Note 5, for his previous conviction for Conspiracy to Possess a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute. Defendant argued that this was error, because Application Note 5 used the term “conspiring” without defining it, thus the categorical approach should have applied. Because the generic definition of conspiracy required an overt act while his conviction under 21 U.S.C. 846 did not, defendant argued, his previous conviction was not a categorical match for the generic definition of “conspiracy” and he should therefore have received only an eight-level enhancement for a prior aggravated felony conviction. After review, the Tenth Circuit agreed with defendant. The Court therefore reversed and remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Martinez-Cruz" on Justia Law