United States v. Ayala-Vázquez

96 F.4th 1

UNITED STATES, Appellee, v. Ángel AYALA-VÁZQUEZ, a/k/a El Buster, a/k/a El Negro,a/k/a Angelo Millones Papa Upa, Defendant, Appellant.

No. 21-1734

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit

March 12, 2024

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Francisco A. Besosa, U.S. District Judge]

Rafael F. Castro Lang for appellant.

David C. Bornstein, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney, and Mariana E. Bauzá-Almonte, Assistant United States Attorney, Appellate Division, were on brief, for appellee.

Before Barron, Chief Judge, Kayatta and Montecalvo, Circuit Judges.

BARRON, Chief Judge.

This appeal is the most recent one that Ángel M. Ayala-Vázquez ("Ayala") has brought to us in relation to his federal convictions on drug-offense-related charges. See United States v. Ayala-Vazquez, 751 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2014); Ayala-Vazquez v. United States, No. 18-2171, 2019 WL 10947347 (1st Cir. Nov. 22, 2019). Here, he challenges the denial of his attempts to have the life sentences that he received for those convictions reduced. We affirm.

I.

In April 2010, a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico handed up an indictment that charged Ayala and sixty-three co-defendants with various federal crimes related to their involvement in a drug-trafficking organization based in the Commonwealth. See Ayala-Vazquez, 751 F.3d at 7. The indictment charged Ayala in relevant part with (1) "knowingly and intentionally . . . conspir[ing] . . . to knowingly and intentionally possess with intent to distribute and distribute controlled substances, to wit: in excess of one (1) kilogram of heroin . . . in excess of fifty (50) grams of cocaine base . . . in excess of five (5) kilograms of cocaine . . . [and] in excess of one thousand (1000) kilograms of marijuana," among other controlled substances, "within one thousand (1,000) feet of the real property comprising a public housing project," in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 860 (Count I); and (2) "knowingly and intentionally possess[ing] with intent to distribute fifty (50) grams or more of a mixture or substance containing . . . cocaine base . . . within one thousand (1,000) feet" of a public-housing project, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 860 and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count IV).

Ayala's trial took place in March 2011. At the charge conference, the government noted that, following Ayala's indictment, Congress had passed the Fair Sentencing Act -- which amended 21 U.S.C. § 841 as of August 3, 2010, by increasing the drug-quantity thresholds for the statutorily prescribed penalty ranges tied to cocaine-base offenses under that statute -- and that the Act's amended penalty-range provisions would apply to Ayala. See Fair Sentencing Act, Pub. L. No. 111-220, § 2, 124 Stat. 2372, 2372 (2010) (amending 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(iii) by striking "50 grams" and inserting "280 grams" and amending § 841(b)(1)(B)(iii) by striking "5 grams" and inserting "28 grams").

Prior to the Fair Sentencing Act, § 841 had set forth three distinct quantity-based penalty ranges for cocaine-base-related offenses. For a § 841 offense of possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance, the penalty range was 0 to 20 years' imprisonment if the type and quantity of controlled substance were unspecified. See § 841(b)(1)(C) (2008). For an § 841 offense of possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance, the penalty range was 5 years' to 40 years' imprisonment if the type and quantity of controlled substance were 5 grams or more of cocaine base. See § 841(b)(1)(B)(iii) (2008). For an offense of possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance, the penalty range was 10 years' to life imprisonment if the type and quantity of controlled substance were 50 grams or more of cocaine base. See § 841(b)(1)(A)(iii) (2008).

After the Fair Sentencing Act, there remain three distinct statutory penalty ranges for cocaine-base-related offenses. However, the Act raised the quantities of cocaine base necessary to trigger the higher penalty ranges. So, for the offense of possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance, the penalty range is still 0 to 20 years' imprisonment if the quantity and type of the controlled substance are unspecified, see § 841(b)(1)(C), but an offender must now possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base to trigger the penalty range of 5 years' to 40 years' imprisonment, see § 841(b)(1)(B)(iii), and 280 grams or more of cocaine base to trigger the penalty range of 10 years' to life imprisonment, see § 841(b)(1)(A)(iii).

Ayala's indictment was handed up prior to the Fair Sentencing Act's enactment. But because, at the time of Ayala's trial, the Fair Sentencing Act required that an offender aid and abet or conspire in the possession of 280 grams or more of cocaine base to trigger the penalty range of 10 years' to life imprisonment, the government requested a special verdict form. That form asked, as to Count I, whether the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that Ayala had conspired to possess with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base and, as to Count IV, whether the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that Ayala had aided and abetted the possession of with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base. Ayala did not object to the use of the form.

With respect to Count I, the jury found Ayala guilty of the crime charged in "Count I of the Indictment" and checked the line on the special verdict form indicating that the jury had determined beyond a reasonable doubt that the quantity of cocaine base "which [Ayala] conspired to possess with intent to distribute" was "Two hundred and eighty (280) grams or more." As to Count IV, the jury again found Ayala guilty of the crime charged in "Count Four of the Indictment" and again checked the line on the special verdict form that indicated that the jury had found beyond a reasonable doubt that the amount of cocaine base "which [Ayala] aided and abetted in the possession of with the intent to distribute" was "Two hundred and eighty (280) grams or more." Ayala appealed his convictions to this Court, without contesting that those convictions were for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting the possession of with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base, and we affirmed. See Ayala-Vazquez, 751 F.3d at 35.

Ayala's sentencing took place on October 26, 2011. The Presentence Investigation Report ("PSR") prepared by the U.S. Probation Office set forth, in relevant part, under the heading "Offense" the following:

Counts One, Three, Four, Five, and Six: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, 50 grams or more of cocaine base "crack", one (1) kilogram or more of heroin, five (5) kilograms or more of cocaine, and one thousand (1,000) kilograms of marihuana, within one thousand (1,000) feet of a housing facility owned by a public housing, a public school, or a park; aiding and abetting[.] (21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846, and 860, Title 18, U.S.C. § 2). Class "A" felonies.

The PSR further stated that "[o]n April 26, 2011, [Ayala] was found guilty of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute . . . two hundred and eighty (280) grams or more of cocaine base." Ayala did not object to these aspects of the PSR.

The sentencing court determined Ayala's base offense level under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines to be 38. In doing so, the sentencing court used the interim version of the Guidelines that were based on the changes that the Fair Sentencing Act had made. The sentencing court then applied the relevant offense-level enhancements and, after finding that Ayala's Criminal History Category was III, calculated the applicable guideline range to be that of life imprisonment. Finding "no identifiable information in [Ayala's] history and characteristics" to justify a downward variance, the sentencing court sentenced Ayala to a term of life imprisonment to be followed by a 10-year term of supervised release on various counts.

Ayala's subsequent collateral challenges under 28 U.S.C. § 2255(a) were denied. See Ayala-Vazquez v. United States, No. 15-2447, 2018 WL 5734595 (D.P.R. Oct. 31, 2018). This Court then denied his request for a certificate of appealability. See Ayala-Vazquez, 2019 WL 10947347, at *1-2.

Several years later, Ayala initiated the post-judgment proceedings that are at the heart of this appeal. On July 20, 2021, Ayala filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico a motion to reduce his sentence pursuant to § 404(b) of the First Step Act, Pub. L. No. 115-391, 132 Stat. 5194, 5222 (2018), and for relief pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), which is commonly known as the provision that permits a defendant to seek post-sentencing "compassionate release."

In support of the motion, Ayala argued that he was eligible for a sentence reduction under the First Step Act because he had committed a "covered offense" within the meaning of § 404(a) of the First Step Act. He contended that the statutory penalty ranges under 21 U.S.C. § 841 for the cocaine-base offenses for which he had been convicted had been modified by the Fair Sentencing Act on August 3, 2010, and so after he had committed those offenses.

Ayala separately contended in the motion that he was entitled to relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3582, which provides that a court may modify an individual's term of imprisonment upon that individual's motion if the court determines that "extraordinary and compelling reasons" warrant such a reduction and that the sentencing factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) weigh in favor of a reduction. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). Ayala argued that the "extraordinary and compelling circumstances" that warranted the reduction of his sentences were that he was a forty-five-year-old man suffering from hypertension and obesity and so was especially...