United States of America v. Juan Manuel Mendiola

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JUAN MANUEL MENDIOLA,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 20-30069
D.C. No. 3:08-cr-00119-JKS-1
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Alaska
James K. Singleton, Jr., District Judge, Presiding
Submitted August 17, 2021**
Before: SILVERMAN, CHRISTEN, and LEE, Circuit Judges.
Juan Manuel Mendiola appeals from the district court’s order denying his
motion for a sentence reduction under § 404 of the First Step Act of 2018. We
have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
Mendiola contends that the First Step Act allows for plenary resentencing on
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
AUG 25 2021
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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all eight counts of conviction because one of those counts was a covered offense
under the Act. As Mendiola acknowledges, this argument is foreclosed. See
United States v. Kelley, 962 F.3d 470, 475 (9th Cir. 2020) (the First Step Act does
not authorize a plenary resentencing; instead, the district court must “place itself in
the counterfactual situation where all the applicable laws that existed at the time
the covered offense was committed are in place,” other than those affected by the
First Step Act). Because there is no dispute that any change to Mendiola’s
sentence on any covered offense would have no effect on the total sentence, the
district court properly denied relief.
AFFIRMED.

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