Thanks for visiting! Welcome to a new way to research case law. You are viewing a free summary from Descrybe.ai. For citation and good law / bad law checking, legal issue analysis, and other advanced tools, explore our Legal Research Toolkit — not free, but close.
United States v. Miguel Gonzales, United States of America v. Orlenis Hernandez-Diaz, United States of America v. Mario Perez
Citations: 122 F.3d 1328; 1997 Colo. J. C.A.R. 1690; 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 21567Docket: 93-2292, 93-2293 and 93-2295
Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; August 15, 1997; Federal Appellate Court
An order on remand and resentencing was issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, following a vacated judgment from the Supreme Court regarding defendants Miguel Gonzales, Orlenis Hernandez-Diaz, and Mario Perez. The defendants were initially convicted in New Mexico for using firearms during a drug sting operation and were sentenced to state prison terms. Subsequently, they faced federal charges for drug offenses and violating 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), which mandates a five-year sentence for the use of firearms in connection with drug trafficking. The district court had ordered that the § 924(c) sentences run consecutively to both their state and federal sentences. However, the Tenth Circuit initially vacated the § 924(c) sentences, ruling they should run concurrently with the state sentences, based on the interpretation that the statute allows concurrency with state but not federal sentences. The Supreme Court overturned this decision, clarifying that the language of § 924(c)(1), which specifies "any other term of imprisonment," applies universally to all prison terms, whether state or federal. The Court held that a § 924(c) sentence cannot run concurrently with any other prison term and affirmed the district court's authority under 18 U.S.C. § 3584 to decide how federal sentences relate to state sentences. The case was remanded to the trial court with instructions to reinstate the original sentences prior to the appellate review.