United States v. Manuel Otero

ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge:

A defendant convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute appeals his 90-month sentence. After determining the applicable offense level under the Sentencing Guidelines, the district court made an upward departure on the basis of its finding that a firearm was in the defendant’s possession during his commission of the offense and the cocaine was of high purity. The adjustment for firearm possession was proper, but we remand for a hearing on whether the cocaine was of unusually high purity because the district court did not afford the defendant an…