Summary
The Tenth Circuit granted the parties’ joint motion to remand, vacated the judgment, and remanded for resentencing. The court held that the district court plainly erred by imposing supervised-release terms different from those stipulated in the accepted Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement, and denied the government’s motion to enforce the appeal waiver and motion for stay as moot.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the district court could impose supervised-release terms different from those specified in an accepted Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement.
- Whether the appellate court should enforce the plea agreement's waiver of appellate rights when the appeal challenged the sentence's inconsistency with the agreement.
Holdings
- Once the district court accepted the Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement, the agreement's sentencing terms bound the court; imposing supervised-release terms different from the agreed terms was plain error requiring vacatur and resentencing.
- The court did not enforce the appellate waiver to the extent it applied to the error concerning the length of supervised release, and denied the government's motion to enforce the waiver as moot.
Key quotations
“binds the court once the court accepts the plea agreement” (2)
Factual background
Myers pleaded guilty to carjacking and related firearms offenses pursuant to a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement. The agreement stipulated to 14 years' imprisonment and three years of supervised release, but the district court imposed five-year supervised-release terms on two firearms counts after accepting the agreement.
Procedural history
The district court accepted the Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement, which stipulated to 14 years' imprisonment and three years of supervised release, but imposed five-year supervised-release terms on two firearms counts. Myers appealed, the government moved to enforce the appellate waiver, and the parties then jointly sought remand after agreeing that the supervised-release sentence plainly erred.
Remand instructions
Vacate the judgment and remand to the district court for resentencing consistent with the Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement, including the agreed supervised-release terms.