143 F.4th 41
1st Cir.2025Background
- Nycole Amaury Rosario-Sánchez, aged 15 at the time, engaged in a series of violent crimes in Puerto Rico in January 2018 with several accomplices, resulting in multiple robberies, carjackings, and four deaths.
- Rosario pleaded guilty to six counts, including robbery, carjacking, and using a firearm during a crime of violence causing murder.
- The Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) recommended a guideline imprisonment range of life, factoring in Rosario’s challenging upbringing and neuropsychological evidence of intellectual disability.
- The district court imposed a downwardly variant sentence of 480 months' imprisonment (40 years), above the government’s and Rosario’s suggested range.
- Rosario appealed, arguing procedural and substantive unreasonableness based on the district court’s treatment of mitigating circumstances and perceived sentence disparity with co-defendants.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consideration of Mitigating Factors | The court failed to adequately consider Rosario’s youth and mental issues | Court considered all 3553(a) factors, including mitigating evidence | No procedural error; court properly considered |
| Sentencing Disparity | Rosario’s sentence is harsher than adult co-defendants, unfairly so | Co-defendants not similarly situated; sentenced by different judges | No error; comparators not sufficiently alike |
| Substantive Reasonableness | Sentence is greater than necessary, disproportionate given mitigating facts | Court weighed aggravating/mitigating facts; sentence is reasonable | Sentence is substantively reasonable |
| Application of Juvenile Sentencing | Miller v. Alabama prohibits harsh sentences for juveniles | Miller bars only mandatory life without parole, not applicable here | Miller argument rejected, sentence affirmed |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Ayala-Vazquez, 751 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2014) (sets out bifurcated review of sentencing for procedure and substance)
- Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007) (abuse-of-discretion standard for review of sentence reasonableness)
- Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012) (bars mandatory life without parole for juveniles)
- United States v. DeJesus, 6 F.4th 141 (1st Cir. 2021) (downwardly variant sentence gets presumption of reasonableness)
- United States v. Concepcion-Guliam, 62 F.4th 26 (1st Cir. 2023) (challenging downward variance imposes heavy burden on defendant)