United States v. Norberto Quintero-Leyva, 823 F.3d 519

Defendant Norberto Quintero-Leyva, age 18, pleaded guilty to importing 13.26 kg of methamphetamine seized at a U.S. port of entry; he claimed he was paid to drive the car, believed cargo was marijuana, and had no prior convictions.
PSR calculated an adjusted offense level that yielded a Guideline range of 108–135 months; the government recommended 108 months via a fast-track plea.
Neither the government nor the PSR recommended a U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 minor-role reduction (a two-level decrease); the district court denied Quintero-Leyva’s request for that reduction, citing drug quantity, payment incentive, and his recontacting the organizer.
The district court imposed a 36-month downward variance and sentenced Quintero-Leyva to 72 months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release.
About one year later, the Sentencing Commission issued Amendment 794 clarifying the § 3B1.2 commentary, listing non-exhaustive factors district courts “should consider” and resolving how defendants are to be compared to other participants.
The Ninth Circuit held that Amendment 794 is retroactive on direct appeal, found the record unclear whether the district court considered all newly listed factors, and reversed and remanded for resentencing under amended § 3B1.2.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Amendment 794 to the § 3B1.2 commentary applies retroactively on direct appeal	Government conceded retroactivity; argued Amendment resolves circuit split and is clarifying	Quintero-Leyva sought application of the Amendment to his direct appeal to obtain a minor-role reduction	Amendment 794 applies retroactively on direct appeal (clarifying amendment; resolves circuit split)
Whether remand for resentencing is required because the district court failed to consider factors in amended § 3B1.2	Government argued district court considered relevant facts and denial could stand	Quintero-Leyva argued the record does not show the court considered all factors listed in Amendment 794	Remanded: record unclear whether all § 3B1.2 factors were considered; district court must reexamine and may grant or deny after considering factors

United States v. Rojas-Millan, 234 F.3d 464 (9th Cir.) (comparison to actual participants)
United States v. Davis, 938 F.2d 744 (7th Cir.) (participant-comparison approach)
United States v. Teeter, 257 F.3d 14 (1st Cir.) (comparison to a hypothetical average participant)
United States v. Christensen, 598 F.3d 1201 (9th Cir. 2010) (factors for retroactivity analysis)
United States v. Morgan, 376 F.3d 1002 (9th Cir.) (retroactivity framework)
United States v. Hornbuckle, 784 F.3d 549 (9th Cir.) (standards of review discussion)