US v. Reyes-Hernandez, 09-1249

Defendants' Sentences Vacated and Remanded for Consideration of the Absence of a Fast-track Program

US v. Reyes-Hernandez, 09-1249, involved challenges to the convictions of defendants for illegally re-entering the United States after being removed following their convictions for aggravated felony crimes, in a consolidated appeal.

In vacating the district court's refusal to consider imposing below-guidelines sentences and thereby refuting defendants' claims that they should receive lesser sentences based on comparisons to sentences imposed on similarly situated individuals prosecuted in "fast-track" districts, the court remanded the cases as, section 5K3.1 should be treated as any other guideline, thereby affording district court judges the ability to consider the absence of a fast-track program in crafting an individual sentence.

Related Link:

• Read the Seventh Circuit's Full Decision in US v. Reyes-Hernandez, 09-1249