United States v. Enrique Morales

In United States v. Enrique Morales, 122 F.4th 590 (5th Cir. 2024), the Fifth Circuit held that a criminal defendant is ineligible to receive the new zero-point-offender reduction to their Sentencing Guidelines if they either received an aggravating-role adjustment under the Guidelines or engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise.

The Zero-Point-Offender Guideline, USSG § 4C1.1, applies if “the defendant meets all of the following criteria.” Those criteria include a requirement that “the defendant did not receive an adjustment under § 3B1.1 (Aggravating Role) and was not engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise, as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 848.” Morales argued that to be ineligible, a defendant must satisfy both of those two conditions: he must have both received a § 3B1.1 adjustment and engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise.

The court rejected that argument, joining three other circuits in holding that a defendant is ineligible if he meets either of those two criteria. See, e.g., United States v. Cervantes, 109 F.4th 944, 946 (7th Cir. 2024); United States v. Milchin, No. 24-1484, 2024 WL 4441419, at *2 (3d Cir. Oct. 8, 2024) (unpublished); United States v. Shaw, No. 24-6638, 2024 WL 4824237, at *1 (4th Cir. Nov. 19, 2024) (unpublished).