United States v. Francis Guerra Pleitez, 876 F.3d 150

Defendant Francis Yuvini Guerra Pleitez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of children and agreed to pay mandatory restitution; he waived most appeal rights but reserved ineffective-assistance claims.
At sentencing the court deferred final restitution pending probation investigation; the PSR and addenda initially proposed $90,110 based on minimum-wage (FLSA) estimates and listed contested lost-wage components.
Trial counsel withdrew after sentencing; during a nine-day period when Pleitez was unrepresented the probation officer filed a Fourth Addendum adopting a new calculation (estimating victims’ gross receipts from sex acts) that increased restitution to $113,790.
The district court signed an order and an amended judgment adopting the Fourth Addendum’s larger restitution figure; appellate counsel was appointed the same day the amended judgment was entered.
Pleitez appealed, arguing the acceptance of the Fourth Addendum and amended restitution during the counsel gap violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel because the change was a critical stage that made his sentence more onerous.

Issue	Pleitez’s Argument	Government’s Argument	Held
Whether appeal is barred by plea appeal waiver	Waiver reserved ineffective-assistance claims; denial-of-counsel claim fits that exception	Waiver bars challenge to restitution and sentence	Waiver does not bar ineffective-assistance claim; court can hear claim
Whether finalization of restitution via §3664(d)(5) is a Sixth Amendment critical stage	Acceptance of PSR addendum increasing restitution during unrepresented period was a critical stage and deprived him of counsel	No critical-stage denial: he could have requested a hearing or had prior vetting; earlier counsel had objected	Final determination of mandatory restitution that increases sentence is a critical stage; counsel’s absence presumptively prejudicial
Whether the Fourth Addendum merely reaffirmed prior calculations	Fourth Addendum used a new gross-income method not previously presented; defendant would have had different arguments (e.g., split of receipts)	Government contends amount was fully vetted at sentencing and objections were filed earlier	Fourth Addendum changed methodology materially; defendant lacked opportunity to rebut with counsel
Remedy on remand	Vacate amended judgment and remand for further proceedings with counsel or reimpose original restitution	N/A	Vacate and remand; district court should either restore original $90,110 or appoint counsel and allow full adversarial proceedings on restitution

Cronic, 466 U.S. 648 (failure to provide counsel at a critical stage presumes prejudice)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (standard for ineffective-assistance claims generally)
Montejo v. Louisiana, 556 U.S. 778 (2009) (Sixth Amendment counsel right extends to critical stages beyond trial)
Hillsman, 480 F.3d 333 (5th Cir. 2007) (defendant entitled to assistance of counsel at all critical stages)
Keele, 755 F.3d 752 (5th Cir. 2014) (standard for construing plea appeal waivers)
Adams, 363 F.3d 363 (5th Cir. 2004) (restitution is part of criminal sentence)