United States v. Moreno Jackson, II

── United States v. Moreno Jackson, II ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: April 15, 2026 Category: General RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 26a0114p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ┐ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, │ Plaintiff-Appellee, │ > No. 25-1223 │ v. │ │ MORENO LEE JACKSON, II, │ Defendant-Appellant. │ ┘ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids. No. 1:24-cr-00112-1—Paul Lewis Maloney, District Judge. Argued: March 18, 2026 Decided and Filed: April 15, 2026 Before: BATCHELDER, THAPAR and MATHIS, Circuit Judges. _________________ COUNSEL ARGUED: Christopher R. Knight, HAYNES AND BOONE, LLP, Dallas, Texas, for Appellant. John J. Schoettle, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Christopher R. Knight, Brenna Helene Scully, HAYNES AND BOONE, LLP, Dallas, Texas, for Appellant. John J. Schoettle, Kathryn M. Dalzell, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Appellee. BATCHELDER, J., delivered the opinion of the court in which THAPAR, J., concurred. MATHIS, J. (pp. 10–17), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.  No. 25-1223 United States v. Jackson Page 2 _________________ OPINION _________________ ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge. Moreno Lee Jackson, who has an extensive history of firearm and drug-related offenses, challenges the procedural reasonableness of his middle-of-the-Guidelines sentence of 212 months’ imprisonment. Because we find that Jackson waived any appellate challenge to his sentence, we AFFIRM. I. Moreno Jackson engaged in a series of crimes involving firearms and narcotics in Michigan from February to July 2024. These incidents included multiple arrests involving firearms, drug overdoses, possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine, and fleeing from law enforcement. Jackson’s crime-spree came to an end on July 15, 2024, when ATF case agents arrested him pursuant to a warrant filed on July 8. While represented by counsel, Jackson entered into a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a Ruger 9mm pistol in violation of 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1). The incident underlying Jackson’s plea occurred on February 20, 2024, when police officers attempted to stop Jackson’s vehicle because they suspected that it had been involved in a robbery, Jackson fled from the police, later abandoned his car and ran on foot, and discarded a Ruger 9mm firearm during the chase. In his plea agreement, Jackson “acknowledge[d] that he is subject to the enhanced penalties provided in Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(e)(1), because [he] has been convicted of three or more violent felonies and/or serious drug offenses. The statutory mandatory minimum sentence that the Court must impose . . . is 15 years’ imprisonment.” Jackson signed his plea agreement immediately below the following paragraph: I have read this