United States v. Santiago Mario Mendoza

Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provides, in part, that:

The court may reduce a sentence within 120 days after the sentence is imposed, or within 120 days after receipt by the court of a mandate issued upon affirmance of the judgment or dismissal of the appeal

In this case, the district court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of a timely filed motion for reduced sentence because it had not ruled on the motion within 120 days of the issuance of a mandate affirming defendant’s narcotics conviction. A panel of this Court reversed, holding the district…