Source: http://ri.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20171215_0000370.C01.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 23:13:37+00:00

Document:
Javier A. Morales-Ramos on brief for appellant.
Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney, Mariana E. Bauzá-Almonte, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division, and B. Kathryn Debrason, Assistant United States Attorney, on brief for appellee.
Before Howard, Chief Judge, Torruella and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
Rafael Santiago-Reyes appeals from the reduced sentence he received after a limited remand for resentencing. He argues that the district court should have dismissed his 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) count in light of Johnson v. United States, 135 S.Ct. 2551 (2015). We disagree. Santiago-Reyes had a pending 18 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate his sentence, based on the same Johnson grounds, which the court said it would entertain in a separate hearing. His motion to dismiss was (1) premature, and (2) barred by the mandate rule. Accordingly, we affirm Santiago-Reyes's sentence, and we remand with instructions for the district court to address the pending § 2255 motion as soon as practicable.
We give the background for why the case was remanded for resentencing. On April 28, 2012, the Puerto Rico Police Department received a report that three individuals had robbed a home and fled in a red Toyota Yaris. Shortly thereafter, two masked men entered a store, Agrocentro Solá. One man held the two employees at gunpoint, while the other grabbed $600 from the cash register. The men then pushed the employees against the wall, hit one of the employees in the head, and stole both employees' cellphones and an additional $300 before fleeing by car.
Responding to the employee's 9-1-1 call, the police spotted a red Toyota Yaris nearby and gave chase. When the vehicle finally stopped, the officers arrested the three men inside --including the defendant in this case, Rafael Santiago-Reyes -- and seized a revolver, two masks, cellphones, and approximately $900 in cash from the car.
Santiago-Reyes later confessed to the home robbery and to possessing a weapon during the Agrocentro Solá robbery. For his role in the Agrocentro Solá robbery, Santiago-Reyes was indicted on two counts: (1) interference with commerce by threats or violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951 ("The Hobbs Act"); and (2) carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). He pled guilty to both counts.
The plea agreement stipulated that Santiago-Reyes's total offense level was 17 (after applying a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility). Together with a criminal history category ("CHC") of I, the recommended Guidelines sentence range ("GSR") was 20-34 months of imprisonment for Count 1, and 66 months of imprisonment for Count 2.
The district court, however, refused to apply the three-level reduction at the sentencing hearing, and instead imposed a two-level enhancement for reckless endangerment during flight, and another two-level enhancement for obstruction of justice. Based on a total offense level of 24, and CHC of I, the applicable GSR for Count 1 became 51-61 months of imprisonment. The judge ultimately sentenced Santiago-Reyes to 51 months of imprisonment for Count 1 and a consecutive 66 months of imprisonment for Count 2.

References: § 924
 v. 
 § 2255
 § 2255
 § 1951
 § 924