United States v. Mario Enrique Mendoza Delgado

── United States v. Mario Enrique Mendoza Delgado ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: May 04, 2026 Category: CON USCA11 Case: 25-13540 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 05/04/2026 Page: 1 of 8 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ Nos. 25-13540, 25-13549 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus MARIO ENRIQUE MENDOZA DELGADO, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket Nos. 8:18-cr-00524-WFJ-CPT-1, 8:19-cr-00288-WFJ-LSG-2 ____________________ Before ROSENBAUM, NEWSOM, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 25-13540 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 05/04/2026 Page: 2 of 8 2 Opinion of the Court 25-13540 Mario Enrique Mendoza Delgado, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to reduce his sentence, pur- suant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), based on Amendment 821 to the Sentencing Guidelines. The district court found that Mendoza Del- gado was eligible for a sentence reduction but the sentencing fac- tors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) weighed against granting relief. Mendoza Delgado argues that the district court weighed the factors unreasonably and failed to consider important mitigating evidence. After careful review, we affirm. I. In October 2021, Mendoza Delgado, a native and citizen of Ecuador, was jointly sentenced in two criminal cases for trafficking cocaine in a go-fast vessel on the high seas in October 2018 and June 2019. 1 See 46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a), 70506(a) and (b). The district court found that he was responsible for trafficking a total of 1,833 kilograms of cocaine and that he acted as the captain. It calculated a total offense level of 35 and a criminal-history category of I, for an advisory sentencing range of 168 to 210 months. The district court sentenced Mendoza Delgado to a total of 140 months of im- prisonment, a downward variance to account for his acute health needs and impoverished upbringing. In 2025, Mendoza Delgado moved unopposed to reduce his sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) based on Amendment 821. 1 After the seizure of the first go-fast vessel in October 2018, Delgado was med- ically evacuated to Panama for treatment because of infected cuts on his hands, and then he was returned to Ecuador. USCA11 Case: 25-13540 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 05/04/2026 Page: 3 of 8 25-13540 Opinion of the Court 3 In relevant part, Amendment 821 added a new two-level decrease for defendants with no criminal-history points who meet certain other criteria. See U.S.S.G. § 4C1.1. Mendoza Delgado argued that Amendment 821 reduced his offense level to 33, for an amended guideline range of 135 to 168 months, making him eligible for a five-month reduction in his sen- tence. He contended that the § 3553(a) factors supported a sen- tence reduction because he had no criminal history, accepted re- sponsibility for his actions, grew up in poverty, and had a spotless disciplinary record in prison. The district court denied relief