May 19th, 2017

​United States v. Torres

Docket: 16-50320
Opinion Date: May 18, 2017
Judge: Jerry E. Smith
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded the denial of defendant's motion for a sentence reduction. The court held that the district court's stated view that its hands were tied with regard to reducing the money-laundering sentence was error. The court explained that if a reduction was appropriate for the drug-trafficking offense levels, then it was appropriate for money-laundering as well. The error affected defendant's substantial rights and the court chose to exercise its discretion to correct the error.