United States v. Jacobo

── United States v. Jacobo ── Case No.: 25-5115 Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 07, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-5115 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 04/07/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 7, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Nos. 25-5115 and 25-5121 (D.C. No. 4:21-CR-00102-GKF-6) LUIS ALFREDO JACOBO, (N.D. Okla.) Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before TYMKOVICH, BALDOCK, and FEDERICO, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ A jury convicted Luis Jacobo of various drug crimes and he was sentenced to life in prison under concurrent life sentences. On direct appeal, this court affirmed Jacobo’s convictions in part but reversed his drug-conspiracy convictions. United States v. Jacobo, No. 23-5114, 2025 WL 481607 (10th Cir. Feb. 13, 2025). The district court on remand dismissed Jacobo’s drug-conspiracy counts and vacated the After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined * unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 and 10th Circuit Rule 32.1.  Appellate Case: 25-5115 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 04/07/2026 Page: 2 related life sentence but did not resentence Jacobo because of the remaining concurrent life sentence. Jacobo moved to appoint counsel for a resentencing hearing which the district court denied because it determined it had no authority to resentence Jacobo for his remaining convictions. Jacobo also moved for a new trial to which the district court responded by informing Jacobo of its intent to characterize the new-trial motion as a habeas corpus petition. Jacobo sought reconsideration of both the court’s denial of appointment of counsel and its intent to re-characterize his new-trial motion. The district court denied reconsideration, and Jacobo appealed both denials. Days after appeal, the district court deemed that Jacobo had withdrawn his motion for a new trial. Because Jacobo’s notice of appeal of the order denying counsel is time-barred, and because this court has no jurisdiction over the order characterizing Jacobo’s new- trial motion, we DISMISS Jacobo’s appeal. I. Background In 2022, a jury found Jacobo guilty of one count of Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE) pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 848(a) and 848(b); three counts of Drug Conspiracy pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii); and twenty-one counts of Unlawful Use of a Communication Facility pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 843(b) and 843(d)(1). Jacobo was subsequently sentenced to life in prison for both the CCE and Drug Conspiracy counts, as well as forty-eight months for the Communication Facility counts, all to run concurrent with each othe