United States v. Julio Otero

── United States v. Julio Otero ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Date: April 23, 2026 Category: General NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ________________ No. 25-1225 ________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JULIO OTERO, Appellant ________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Criminal Action No. 3:96-cr-00005-003) District Judge: Honorable Julia K. Munley ________________ Submitted under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) on November 4, 2025 Before: KRAUSE, PHIPPS, and ROTH, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: April 23, 2026) ________________ OPINION * ________________ * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. ROTH, Circuit Judge Julio Otero, a federal prisoner currently serving a life sentence pursuant to a guilty plea agreement, appeals the District Court’s denial of his motion for compassionate release. Because the District Court did not abuse its discretion when denying his motion, we will affirm. I. During the mid-1990s, Otero led an organization responsible for the distribution of heroin in and around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After he was arrested in 1996, Otero was charged in a sixteen-count superseding indictment, which included charges for drug distribution and possession, illegal firearm violations, and continuing criminal enterprise. The superseding indictment also charged Otero for his roles in two gruesome murders: one of a Dauphin County Drug Task Force informant who was shot five times in a manner indicative of an execution-style killing, and the other of a 17-year-old who was robbed, stabbed, and eventually had his throat slit due to a dispute over a drug debt. After receiving approval from the Department of Justice, the government filed two notices of its intention to seek the death penalty against Otero—one for each homicide victim. Rather than proceed to trial, Otero signed a written plea agreement under which he would plead guilty to a single continuing criminal enterprise charge and serve a life sentence of imprisonment. In exchange, the government dismissed the other fifteen charges and withdrew the notices of its intention to seek the death penalty. On May 27, 1998, the District Court formally sentenced Otero pursuant to the plea agreement and he began his life sentence. 2  In August 2020, Otero filed his first motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), in which he moved for a reduced sentence in light of the COVID- 19 pandemic and various health and family concerns. The District Court denied Otero’s request, finding that he had not demonstrated extraordinary and compelling circumstances justifying compassionate release, and that the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) weighed against a reduction of his sentence. In July 2024, Otero filed a second compassionate release motion, in which he cited substantially similar reasons as those asserted in his first motion, but added an argument that his life sentence was unusually long compared to modern sentencing practices. The District Court again denied Otero’s motion, finding that his sentence was not unusually long because, by