No. 21-6166

Ángel De la Cruz v. United States

Lower Court: First Circuit
Docketed: 2021-11-03
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: circuit-split criminal-law drug-offense due-process first-step-act maritime-drug-law safety-valve sentencing statutory-interpretation terry-v-united-states
Key Terms:
Environmental SocialSecurity Securities Immigration
Latest Conference: 2021-12-03
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether pre-First Step Act Safety Valve covers Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act offenses since those offenses' punishment elements are defined by 21 U.S.C. § 960

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED FOR REVIEW The Pre-First Step Act Safety Valve was widely applied to the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA), a statute whose punishment criteria and elements were derived from 21 U.S.C. § 960. The First Circuit, however, joined a circuit split to interpret Safety Valve as not applying to the MDLEA because it did not expressly list the MDLEA even though it did list Section 960. Terry v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1858 (2021) reiterated that offenses are defined by provisions supplying their elements. Thus, under Terry, does pre-First Step Act Safety Valve cover MDLEA offenses since those offenses’ punishment elements are defined by Section 960? -i PARTIES Angel De la Cruz, petitioner on review, was the defendantappellant below. The United States of America, respondent on review, was the plaintiff-appellant below. PROCEEDINGS The following proceedings are directly related to this case. e United States v. De la Cruz, No. 18-1710 (1st Cir. May 26, 2021) (reported at 998 F.3d 508) (motion to recall mandate and petition for reh’g denied July 9, 2021) e United States v. De la Cruz, No. 3:17-cr-00648-FAB (D.P.R. July 12, 2018) -ii

Docket Entries

2021-12-06
Petition DENIED.
2021-11-17
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/3/2021.
2021-11-09
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2021-10-21
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due December 3, 2021)

Attorneys

Ángel De la Cruz
Kevin Edward LermanFederal Public Defender, District of Puerto Rico, Petitioner
United States
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent