United States v. Reyes-Santiago

I fully join the majority’s persuasive analysis save for one part, regarding sentencing, where I see things somewhat differently.

I

The defendant, Reyes, contends that he has been treated disparately in sentencing from his co-conspirators for no good reason. And the majority is understandably troubled — as am I — that he was.

Reyes points to the fact that a number of his co-conspirators stipulated in their plea agreements — as he did in his — to a relatively small amount of drugs. But while those co-conspirators were sentenced on the basis of those stipulated quantities, the District Court…