United States v. Beltran-Moreno
556 F.3d 913, 2009 WL 310915 (2009)
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Rule of Law:
A criminal sentence that is lower than the legally required statutory minimum cannot be deemed substantively unreasonable when challenged on appeal by the defendant. An appellate court is precluded from correcting such an erroneously low sentence by increasing it if the government has not filed its own appeal challenging the sentence.
Facts:
- Jose and Abraham Beltran-Moreno were involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
- On March 12, 2005, the Beltran-Morenos possessed a firearm in furtherance of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it.
- On June 22, 2005, the Beltran-Morenos possessed another firearm in furtherance of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute it.
- The two instances of firearm possession were connected to two distinct underlying drug offenses.
Procedural Posture:
- Jose and Abraham Beltran-Moreno were charged in a multiple-count indictment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
- The defendants pled guilty to various drug offenses and two firearms counts under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).
- At sentencing, the government argued the mandatory minimum sentence was 40 years, but the district court erroneously calculated it to be 20 years.
- The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines recommended a life sentence for each defendant.
- The district court exercised its discretion and imposed a sentence of 35 years on each defendant.
- The defendants, Jose and Abraham Beltran-Moreno, appealed their sentences to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, arguing they were unreasonably high.
- The government did not file a cross-appeal to challenge the erroneously low sentence.
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Issue:
Is a criminal sentence procedurally or substantively unreasonable when it is below the legally required statutory minimum, and the defendant appeals seeking an even lower sentence?
Opinions:
Majority - Reinhardt, Circuit Judge
No. A sentence cannot be considered unreasonably high as a substantive matter when it is, in fact, lower than the legally permitted mandatory minimum. The district court correctly based its sentence on an individualized assessment under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), making it procedurally sound, even though its calculation of the mandatory minimum was erroneous. The defendants' argument that they should only face one firearm charge is foreclosed by circuit precedent, which permits separate § 924(c) counts for distinct predicate offenses. The district court's error in calculating the mandatory minimum sentence—imposing a sentence five years below the required 40-year minimum—actually benefitted the defendants. Due to the Supreme Court's decision in Greenlaw v. United States, the appellate court cannot correct this error and increase the sentence because the government failed to file a cross-appeal. Therefore, the defendants' appeal is meritless, and affirming the sentence spares them from the adverse consequences they would have likely faced had their appeal succeeded and the case been remanded.
Analysis:
This case serves as a stark warning to appellate counsel regarding the serious risks of appealing a sentence that, despite legal error, is more favorable to the defendant than the law requires. It strongly reinforces the rule from Greenlaw v. United States, which bars appellate courts from sua sponte correcting sentencing errors that favor the defendant when the government does not appeal. The opinion also highlights the severe and compounding nature of mandatory minimums under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), as interpreted by Deal v. United States, where multiple counts in a single indictment trigger massive sentence enhancements. The court's sharp criticism of counsel underscores the professional and ethical duty to properly advise clients on the potential for an appeal to result in a significantly worse outcome.
