United States v. Reyes-Barreto


United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 18-1747 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, v. ERICK JOEL REYES-BARRETO, Defendant-Appellant. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Gustavo A. Gelpí, U.S. District Judge] Before Howard, Chief Judge, Thompson and Barron, Circuit Judges. Luis A. Guzmán Dupont for appellant. Mariana E. Bauzá-Almonte, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division, with whom Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney, and Antonio L. Perez-Alonso, Assistant United States Attorney, were on brief, for appellee. January 27, 2022 HOWARD, Chief Judge. Erick Joel Reyes-Barreto contests the reasonableness of a twelve-month prison sentence that was imposed after he committed and admitted to a series of supervised release violations. The government argues that Reyes-Barreto's appeal is moot because he was released from incarceration in April 2019, even though he is still serving his term of supervised release. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that Reyes- Barreto's appeal has not become moot as result of his release from incarceration. We nonetheless affirm the sentence as being procedurally and substantively reasonable. I. Background In April 2013, Reyes-Barreto pled guilty to a single count of conspiracy with intent to distribute heroin, and he was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence by the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. Reyes-Barreto also received four years of supervised release, which began on October 7, 2016. The District of Puerto Rico assumed the management of Reyes-Barreto's supervised release in June 2017. In early February 2018, Reyes-Barreto's probation officer notified the court that he had violated various terms of his supervised release. The violations included failing to follow his probation officer's instructions, lying to and moving without notifying the officer, and committing an offense by driving without a license. Reyes-Barreto admitted to all of these violations. - 2 - On February 26, 2018, Reyes-Barreto's probation officer notified the court that he had tested positive for marijuana, another violation. Reyes-Barreto denied using the drug, but a positive test result suggested otherwise, and the court approved the probation officer's request for modified conditions, including electronic monitoring and home detention. In mid-April 2018, the probation officer returned to the court to report further transgressions, including: being away from home too late; twice leaving home without permission; and –- although he was not charged -- being arrested with two others who possessed illegal drugs, a gun, and a stolen vehicle. Reyes-Barreto did not contest these violations. The court held a revocation of supervised release hearing on July 17, 2018, and noted that Reyes-Barreto's Grade C violation, per U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1(a)(3), along with his Criminal History Category of I, resulted in an advisory guidelines range of three to nine months' incarceration. See U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(a). The court also observed that the statutory maximum was three years' incarceration. Reyes-Barreto's counsel asked for a sentence of four months' incarceration and six additional months of supervised release. The court revoked Reyes-Barreto's previous supervised release term, noted its consideration of …

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