United States v. Nicasio Cordero

OPINION OF THE COURT

McKEE, Circuit Judge.

Nicasio Cordero pled guilty to various drug-related offenses, and the district court thereafter sentenced him to 86 months imprisonment. The court arrived at that sentence after granting a motion for a downward guidelines departure that the government made pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 and 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e). That motion allowed the court to impose a sentence that was less than the 10 year mandatory minimum period of incarceration that would have otherwise applied. On appeal, Cordero argues that the district court erred in using the mandatory minimum…