Molino-Martinez v. United States

Saul Molino-Martinez (defendant) pleaded guilty to illegal reentry after deportation, and the probation office calculated his sentencing guidelines range at 77 to 96 months (Category VI); the judge sentenced him to 77 months. Molino-Martinez later discovered the probation office had overlooked a guidelines provision that should have lowered his criminal-history rating to Category V, with a range of 70 to 87 months — meaning his 77-month sentence sat at the bottom of the wrong, harsher range but the middle of the correct one. Because he raised the error for the first time on appeal, the Fifth Circuit required him to satisfy plain-error review, including showing the error affected his substantial rights, and ruled he failed to do so simply because his sentence fell within both possible ranges; the Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve a circuit split on the issue.