United States v. Sepulveda-Hernandez, No. 13-1339 (1st Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of conspiracy with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting in drug distribution. The district court elevated Defendant’s offense level in light of the jury’s finding that the drug sales had occurred in close proximity to a youth center. The First Circuit Court of Appeals held (1) 21 U.S.C. 860(a), which doubles the maximum available penalty for drug distribution in close proximity to a youth center, creates an independent substantive offense, rather than operating merely as a sentence-enhancing factor, but the evidence was insufficient to support Defendant’s convictions for that offense; and (2) notwithstanding that the evidence was insufficient to ground the convictions under section 860(a), Defendant may be held to account on a lesser included offense theory under 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1). Accordingly, the Court vacated the convictions and sentence under 21 U.S.C. 860(a), ordered the entry of convictions under section 841(a)(1), and remanded for resentencing.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.