Professional Documents
Culture Documents
No. 15-1449
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Appellee,
v.
EMMANUEL ZAYAS-ORTIZ,
Defendant, Appellant.
Before
Howard, Chief Judge,
Stahl and Kayatta, Circuit Judges.
States
Emmanuel
Sentencing
Zayas-Ortiz
filed
Guidelines,
a
motion
Defendant-Appellant
for
reduction
sentence
We affirm.
I.
intentionally
agreeing
to
narcotics;
conspiring,
possess,
with
specifically,
combining,
intent
five
to
confederating,
distribute,
kilograms
or
more
and
controlled
of
cocaine,
United States, which stipulated, inter alia, that Zayas was one
of the drug trafficking operation's leaders, that Zayas was an
"enforcer" and owned "drug points" where the illicit products
were sold, and that Zayas possessed a firearm in the course of
the offense.
Consistent
recommended
the
with
following
this
agreement,
sentencing
- 2 -
the
calculations
parties
under
the
Zayas
thirty-eight
for
841(b)(1)(A),
and
would
receive
violations
846.
of
Pursuant
base
18
to
offense
U.S.C.
U.S.S.G.
level
of
841(a)(1),
3B1.1,
Zayas
conspiracy,
and,
pursuant
to
U.S.S.G.
2D1.1,
he
would
the
offset
by
conspiracy.
a
These
three-level
increases
would
reduction
for
be
partially
acceptance
of
adjusted
offense
level
of
thirty-nine
and
yielding
an
The probation
at
the
January
bottom
17,
of
2007,
the
the
district
guidelines
range
court
to
sentenced
a
term
of
this Court.
This recitation is merely background for purposes of
the instant appeal.
motion
to
pursuant
reduce
to
his
amendments
sentence
706
and
under
711
to
18
U.S.C.
the
3582(c),
guidelines.
The
offense
level
decrease,
an
adjusted
offense
level
of
on
reduce
December
pursuant
his
to
20,
sentence
2011,
under
amendments
748
Zayas
filed
18
U.S.C.
and
750
to
second
3582(c),
the
motion
to
this
time
guidelines.
The
to the guidelines.
But
stipulating
probation
this
to
the
officer
time
there
reduction,
opposed
the
was
both
twist.
the
motion,
Rather
government
citing
the
and
than
the
defendant's
these factors had already been accounted for when the sentence
was initially imposed and did not, taken alone, reflect any
increased danger to public safety.
positive
disciplinary
record
and
rehabilitative
efforts
in
2015,
the
district
denied
the
prison.
On
March
16,
court
account
1B1.10
and
the
the
policy
statement
sentencing
factors
- 5 -
set
set
forth
forth
at
[U.S.S.G.]
in
18
U.S.C.
Analysis
3582(b)).
The
district
court's
power
under
by
the
"Commission")
United
constitutes
States
one
Sentencing
such
"exception
Commission
to
the
(the
general
Id.
eligibility
for
sentence
modification
and
the
Id.
- 6 -
Second,
the
court
"consider[s]
any
applicable
contends
that
the
district
court
abused
its
He claims
- 7 -
that one cannot discern what factors, if any, the court relied
on
in
denying
his
motion.
According
to
Zayas,
"no
reasons
motion
and
there
is
no
correlation
an
error
discretion.
of
law
to
the
statutory
necessarily
constituting
an
abuse
of
Zayas himself
Cir. 1990). As this Court has noted, "[i]t is not enough merely
to mention a possible argument in the most skeletal way, leaving
the court to do counsel's work, create the ossature for the
argument, and put flesh on its bones."
Id.
This rule is
commonly deployed, however, against ancillary arguments tossed
carelessly against the wall in the hope that one might stick.
Despite the paucity of authority offered by the appellant in
support of his position, we need not explore the contours of
this convention, for the appeal fails on the merits.
2
- 8 -
F.3d
context,
1318,
we
considered
1322
have
the
(11th
held
that
relevant
Cir.
a
1997)).
judge's
3553(a)
In
the
statement
factors
"is
sentencing
that
he
entitled
has
to
significant weight."
229,
2014)
233
(1st
Cir.
(citing
United
States
v.
Dvila
no reason why this rule should not apply with equal force in the
3582(c) context.
Here, the district court utilized a form order that
explicitly states that the judge "[took] into account the policy
statement set forth at [U.S.S.G.] 1B1.10 and the sentencing
factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)[.]"
The
government
concerns
appropriate
and
given
opposed
argued
the
the
that
defendant's
motion
based
reduction
leadership
on
public
would
and
not
be
enforcement
The probation
sentence
to
3553(a)
protect
the
factors.
determining
the
public
See
particular
is,
of
course,
3553(a)(2)(C)
sentence
to
one
("The
be
of
court,
imposed,
the
in
shall
the
public
defendant . . . .").
arguing
that
government's
3553(a)
from
In
fact,
"[n]either
[the
response
inquiry
(emphasis added).
further
Zayas
finds
defendant's]
discussed
(aside
crimes
from
factors
public
of
himself
the
awkwardly
motion
nor
the
relevant
to
the
safety
concerns)."
- 10 -
Perhaps
aware
of
his
weak
position,
the
defendant
have
safety.
sauce
denied
his
third
reduction
on
the
basis
of
public
than
substance.
There
is
nothing
incongruent
about
only
warranted
up
to
point.
The
district
court
was
defendant
must
remember
that
the
Commission's
to
reduced
term
of
imprisonment
as
matter
of
U.S.S.G.
also
supplement
recognize
the
to
app.
court's
- 11 -
C
role
amend.
in
782,
conducting
the
an
short,
the
record
adequately
reflects
the
basis
We recognize that
the court could have expounded further upon the basis for its
decision.
and
expense
associated
therewith.
However,
on
this
Conclusion
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