NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAY 31 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 16-50175
Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 3:15-cr-03207-GPC
v.
MEMORANDUM*
FRANCISCO MARTINEZ-DIAZ,
Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Gonzalo P. Curiel, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted May 24, 2017**
Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, and SILVERMAN and RAWLINSON,
Circuit Judges.
Francisco Martinez-Diaz appeals from the district court’s judgment and
challenges the 37-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for
being a removed alien found in the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we vacate and remand for
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
resentencing.
Martinez-Diaz contends that the district court erred by basing the sentence
on an incorrect characterization of his criminal history. The record reflects that,
while Martinez-Diaz had prior drug arrests, he did not sustain a drug conviction in
2006 or at any other time. However, the district court referred to a 2006 drug
conviction, and Martinez-Diaz’s history of “drug trafficking,” in the course of
explaining why a downward variance was not warranted. Because there is a
reasonable probability that the district court would have imposed a lower sentence
had it not mistakenly believed that Martinez-Diaz had prior drug convictions, we
vacate and remand for resentencing. See United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 993
(9th Cir. 2008) (en banc) (selection of sentence based on clearly erroneous facts
constitutes procedural error).
VACATED and REMANDED for resentencing.
2 16-50175