United States v. Carrasquillo-Penaloza, 826 F.3d 590

Defendant Betsian Carrasquillo-Peñaloza was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a) for attempting to cause a 14-year-old to engage in prostitution; she later pleaded guilty to that count.
She moved to dismiss pre-plea, arguing § 2423(a) could not constitutionally reach conduct wholly within Puerto Rico; the district court denied the motion relying on precedent.
The plea agreement recommended the statutory minimum sentence (120 months) and included an express waiver-of-appeal clause.
Carrasquillo-Peñaloza entered an unconditional, knowing, and voluntary guilty plea and was sentenced to 120 months.
On appeal she argued Congress lacked authority under the Commerce Clause to apply § 2423(a) to intra-Puerto Rico conduct.
The First Circuit dismissed the appeal, holding the constitutional challenge was waived by the unconditional plea and barred by the appeal waiver in the plea agreement.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a constitutional challenge to the statute of conviction is preserved after an unconditional guilty plea	Government: plea waived nonjurisdictional claims	Carrasquillo-Peñaloza: constitutional challenge to § 2423(a) implicates subject-matter jurisdiction and can be raised despite a guilty plea	The court held the challenge is nonjurisdictional and thus waived by an unconditional guilty plea
Whether the waiver-of-appeal clause bars appellate review of the constitutional claim	Government: express written waiver binds defendant	Carrasquillo-Peñaloza: waiver did not clearly cover challenges to the statute's validity	The court held the written waiver clearly encompassed appeals of judgment and sentence and barred the appeal
Whether exceptions (double jeopardy or due process) save the appeal despite the waiver	N/A	Carrasquillo-Peñaloza: alleged exceptions might allow review	The court found neither exception applied and enforcement would not be a miscarriage of justice
Whether precedent forecloses the Commerce Clause argument on the merits	N/A	Carrasquillo-Peñaloza: merits would show § 2423(a) exceeds Congress's Commerce Clause power	Court did not reach merits but noted precedent makes success unlikely

United States v. Cardales-Luna, 632 F.3d 731 (1st Cir. 2011) (constitutional attack on a criminal statute is nonjurisdictional and not preserved by contest unless properly raised)
United States v. Castro-Vazquez, 802 F.3d 28 (1st Cir. 2015) (unconditional guilty plea waives pre-plea nonjurisdictional errors if knowing and voluntary)
United States v. Baucum, 80 F.3d 539 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (courts should not treat every constitutional challenge as jurisdictional to force sua sponte validity review)
United States v. Díaz-Doncel, 811 F.3d 517 (1st Cir. 2016) (unconditional guilty plea bars appellate constitutional challenge to statutory authority)
United States v. Tollett, 411 U.S. 258 (1973) (guilty plea waives claims of antecedent nonjurisdictional defects)