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Before
Howard, Lipez, and Barron,
Circuit Judges.
For the
reasons that follow, we vacate Ortiz's sentence and remand for resentencing.
I.
At
sentencing,
the
District
Court
reviewed
the
See
3E1.1(a).
Thus,
the
report
set
forth
guidelines
- 2 -
guidelines
calculation.
The
plea
agreement's
then
recommended
sentence
of
33
months.
The
That
of
the
District
Court.
See
Fed.
R.
Crim.
2D1.1(b)(14)(E)
[offense
committed as part of a pattern of criminal
conduct engaged in as a livelihood]. However,
in order for said enhancement to apply, it is
necessary that the defendant receives an
aggravating
role
adjustment
under
USSG
3B1.2. In this case, an enhancement under
USSG 3B1.2 is neither contemplated by the
plea agreement nor justified by the evidence
- 3 1
P.
Ortiz did not plead guilty to a weapons offense, the Court cannot
disregard the fact that he participated in an offense that involved
firearms and that those firearms were fired during the offense."2
In that regard, the District Court referenced the conduct of
Ortiz's co-defendants, who had fired guns into the air from a
different vehicle while Ortiz was driving nearby.
The
District
Court
then
proceeded
to
describe
the
According to
car,
which
contained
clothing,
marijuana,
four
rifle
on the record.
Although a firearm count had been included in the original
indictment, Ortiz had entered a guilty plea on only one count of
drug trafficking.
- 4 2
double
drum
magazine,
and
four
pistol
magazines
containing
ammunition.
The District Court emphasized the firearms involved:
Once again, we find ourselves in a case
involving firearms in this District, involving
a young man with firearms or ammunition,
magazines, that sell pretty expensively on the
streets, and the person who possesses them,
like Mr. Ortiz, appears not to have the means
to purchase those type of things. Everybody
knows that gun crimes are pervasive throughout
the island, and I have to consider deterrence
as one of the 3553 factors, because it's
important to consider preventing criminal
behavior by the population at large and not
just by the defendant being sentenced.
The District Court then found that "the sentence to which the
parties
agreed,
as
well
as
the
guideline
imprisonment
range
At
was only at the sentencing hearing that the District Court varied
upwards from the guidelines range described in the pre-sentence
investigation report.
before and after the imposition of the sentence, though cut short,
raised the same basic challenge to the reasonableness of the
sentence that Ortiz now makes on appeal.
sentence for abuse of discretion.
And
534
But
specifically
the
reasons
that
this
particular
447
F.3d
at
60).
- 7 -
And
District
Court's
Ortiz did not plead guilty to a weapons offense, the Court cannot
disregard the fact that he participated in an offense that involved
firearms and that those firearms were fired during the offense."
But the presence and use of firearms was accounted for in the twopoint enhancement for firearms the judge included in the guidelines
calculation, and so the reference to the mere presence or use of
the firearms cannot justify such a significant variance.
See
the
public
from
further
crimes
of
the
defendant.
of
particular
crimes
in
the
relevant
community
and
sentencing
court's
"appraisal
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of
community-based
that the District Court did not explain how the enhancing conduct
involving firearms falls outside the heartland of the guideline
enhancement that had already been imposed, the District Court's
explanation
of
the
defendant's
conduct
was
not
sufficiently
at 6 ("We are hard-put to see any basis for finding this sentence
reasonable.
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