Opinion ID: 615992
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Scope of Remand for Barnes' Re-Sentencing

Text: In our opinion on Barnes' first appeal, we addressed only his argument that the lower court erred in rejecting the parties' stipulation that the conspiracy involved five-to-fifteen kilograms of cocaine. United States v. Barnes, 602 F.3d 790, 792, 796 (7th Cir.2010) (Barnes's argument focuses on the fact that his co-defendants who pleaded guilty and were sentenced before him were sentenced based on the finding that the conspiracy only involved five-to-fifteen kilograms of cocaine.). We agreed with Barnes' argument, holding that [w]ithout any justification for why one co-conspirator is responsible for a greater quantity of drugs than his fellow co-conspirators, such a discrepancy in factual findings is clearly erroneous. Id. at 796. We vacated his sentence and generally remanded his case for re-sentencing. Id. at 797 ([W]e vacate the district court's sentence of 292 months, and remand for re-sentencing.). On remand, the district court interpreted our opinion as an order to resolve the discrepancy in factual findings used when it sentenced Barnes. The district court understood this discrepancy to be its incongruou[s] reject[ion] [of] the parties' post-trial joint stipulation that the conspiracy involved between 5 and 15 kilograms of cocaine. . . . The district court re-sentenced Barnes using the post-trial stipulation to calculate his Guideline range. It sentenced Barnes anew to 292 months of imprisonment for the conspiracy count of the indictment.