United States v. Morales-Velez, No. 21-1264 (1st Cir. 2024)
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The case involves Andy G. Morales-Veléz, who appealed two rulings related to his guilty plea for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Morales argued that his 120-month sentence was both procedurally and substantively unreasonable because the district court did not provide adequate justification for imposing a higher sentence than that recommended by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. He also contended that the district court erred by refusing to consider his motion to return $20,000 in cash the government seized from his vehicle during his arrest.
The district court had denied Morales's motion to return the seized cash, arguing that a separate civil forfeiture proceeding against the money had already commenced. At the sentencing hearing, the court imposed a sentence of 120 months, higher than the parties' proposed ninety-six-month sentence, based on the fact that Morales possessed not only a machine gun but four magazines, two of which were high capacity, and 125 rounds of radically invasive projectiles.
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the district court's rulings. The court found that the district court provided an adequate explanation for the upward variance in Morales's sentence, considering the nature of the machine gun and the amount of ammunition found with the gun. The court also concluded that Morales's claims regarding the return of the seized cash were moot because he had reached a settlement with the government over the seized $20,000.
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