[ DO NOT PUBLISH] 

## In the 

# United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________
No. 21

- 12360
Non

- Argument Calendar

____________________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff

- Appellee,

versus JUAN CARLOS SANTIAGO,

Defendant

- Appellant.

____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 8:18

- cr

- 00398

- VMC

- AEP

- 2

____________________ USCA11 Case: 21-12360 Date Filed: 06/07/2022 Page: 1 of 62 Opinion of the Court 21

- 12360

Before L UCK , L AGOA , and B RASHER , Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM : Juan Carlos Santiago appeals his sentence of sixty months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine. H e argues that the district court e rred by reassigning his case to a new judge after his previous sentence was vacated on appeal as procedurally unreasonable. After careful review, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND Santiago was charged in a superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)(viii) , and 846 (Count One), and another count of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(viii) (Count Three). Santiago pleaded guilty to Count One under a writ ten plea agreement. Under the agreement, the government agreed to the dismissal of Count Three. At sentencing, the district court calculated a guideline range of 87 to 108 months’ imprisonment. The government moved for a

two

- level downward departure based on Santiago’s substantial assistance , argu ing for a seventy

- month sentence

. Santiago requested USCA11 Case: 21-12360 Date Filed: 06/07/2022 Page: 2 of 621

- 12360 Opinion of the Court 3 that the district court vary downward to a sixty

- month sentence. T he district court ultimately sentenced Santiago to time served and five years of supervised release. W e vacated that sentence , holding that the district court procedurally erred in failing to state the reasons for Santiago’s below

- guidelines non

- custodial sentence

. See United States v . Santiago , 853 Fed. Ap p’x 424 (11th Cir. 2021). On remand, Santiago’s case was reassigned to a new district judge without explanation. At the resentencing hearing, that judge conduct ed a fresh analysis of the sentencing factors, rather than put ting herse lf “ in the shoes of the original sentencing judge .” Neither party objected to the reassignment nor moved for the case to be reassigned to the original sentencing judge

. The district court adopted the same guideline range of 87 to 108 months’ imprisonment

. And it granted the government’s motion for a two

- level downward departure for substantial assistance, lower ing the range to 70 to 87 months. The government requested a sentence between 60 and 70 months, and Santiago requested a sentence of home detention. The court concluded that Santiago ’s crime warranted a more substantial sentence than what was previously imposed

. The court sentenced Santiago to sixty months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release. Santiago appealed.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review both a district court’s management of its docket and its application of its own local rules for abuse of discretion. See United States v. McLean , 802 F.3d 1228, 1233 (11th Cir. 2015) ; USCA11 Case: 21-12360 Date Filed: 06/07/2022 Page: 3 of 64 Opinion of the Court 21

- 12360 Equity Lifestyle Props., Inc. v. Fla. Mowing & Landscap e Serv., Inc. , 556 F.3d 1232, 1240 (11th Cir. 2009)

. We give “great deference” to a district court’s interpretation of its own rules, vacating adecision only if the challenging party shows a “clear error of judgment.” McLean , 802 F.3d at 1233. A district court abu ses its discretion when it applies an incorrect legal standard, unreasonably or incorrectly applies the law, follows incorrect procedures, or makes clearly erroneous factual findings. Id.

U npreserved sentencing objections are reviewed for plain

error. See United States v. Vandergrift , 754 F.3d 1303, 1307 (11th Cir. 2014). On plain

- error review, we , at our discretion, may correct an error when the defendant shows : (1) an error occurred; (2) the error was plain; and (3) the error affects substantial rights. R

osales

- Mireles v. United States
, 585 U.S. ___, 138 S. Ct. 1897,
1904

– 05, 1908

– 09 ( 2018). W hen these three factors are met, we may exercise discretion and correct the error if it “seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” I

d. at 1905 (quotation marks omitted). A n error is plain when it contradicts an applicable statute, rule, or on

- point precedent. S ee United States v. Lej arde

- Rada , 319 F.3d 1288, 1291 (11th Cir. 2003).
III. DISCUSSION On appeal, Santiago argues that the district court erred by reassigning his case up on remand. He argues that this Court’s decision to remand his cas e did not require reassignment , and that no fac tors were present which required reassignment. He also a rgues USCA11 Case: 21-12360 Date Filed: 06/07/2022 Page: 4 of 621

- 12360 Opinion of the Court 5

that the original sentencing judge could have put aside her prior views and conduct ed the resentencing

. The government responds that a criminal defendant has no right to be resentenced by the same judge that imposed his original sentence. It contends that the district court ha s broad discretion in managing its own docket and did not err by reassigning the case. For the reasons given below, we affirm.
C ase reassignment is gov erned by the district court’s local rules. The local rules of the Middle District of Florida allow the judge to whom the clerk has assigned an action to transfer it “ at any time and for any reason ” if the transferee judge consents. M .D. Fla. L. R. 1.07(a)( 2)( A). We have held that “[d]istrict [j]udges have the inherent power to transfer cases from one to another for the expeditious administration of justice.” U nited States v. Stone , 411 F.2d 597, 599 (5th Cir. 1969).
There is no binding authority e s tablishing a right to be resentenced by the same judge that imposed an original sentence or showing that the district court erred in reassign ing this case without explanation

. Instead, Santiago relies on decisions affirm ing that

an appe llate court order ing a district court to reassign a case to a new judge is an extraordinary remedy

. See, e.g. , United States v. Waknine , 543 F.3d 546 , 559

– 60 (9th Cir. 2008) (w hen there are no allegations of judicial bias, the c ourt of a ppeals employs a multi

factor test to determine whether “unusual circumstances ” justify remand ing to a different judge ). But n one of the decisions Santiago relies on affect a district court ’s authority to transfer or reassign USCA11 Case: 21-12360 Date Filed: 06/07/2022 Page: 5 of 66 Opinion of the Court 21

- 12360
cases at its discretion, consistent with its lo cal rules , which is what occurred here. On the contrary
, they merely reaffirm the district court’s broad authority over its own docket

. T he district court’s decision to reassign Santiago’s case on remand was a reasonable exercise of its broad discretion to control its own docket under its local rules. Santiago has therefore failed to show that the district court abuse d its discretion. Nor has he shown that the reassignment , which was unopposed
, was plainly erroneous. Vandergrift , 754 F.3d at 1307. He makes no argument that reassignment contradict ed an applicable statute, rule, or on

- point precedent. Nor does he explain how reassignment

— and the resentencing judge’s subsequent decision to impose a below

- guidelines

sentence

— harmed his “substantial rights” or the “fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings

. ” Id.
AFFIRMED. USCA11 Case: 21-12360 Date Filed: 06/07/2022 Page: 6 of 6