United States v. Rodriguez-Reyes

── United States v. Rodriguez-Reyes ── Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Date: June 10, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 23-2037 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, v. JERRY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ-REYES, a/k/a Quiri, Defendant, Appellant. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Francisco A. Besosa, U.S. District Judge] Before Barron, Chief Judge, Thompson and Aframe, Circuit Judges. María S. Ramírez-Becerra for appellant. Jeniffer Vélez-Pérez, with whom W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney; Mariana E. Bauzá-Almonte, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division; and Thomas F. Klumper, Assistant United States Attorney, Senior Appellate Counsel, were on brief, for appellee. June 10, 2026  THOMPSON, Circuit Judge. Thirteen years after we first upheld Jerry Omar Rodríguez-Reyes's life sentence following jury convictions arising from his leadership in a murderous drug-dealing conspiracy, see United States v. Rodríguez-Reyes (Rodríguez I), 714 F.3d 1, 17 (1st Cir. 2013), he's before us again. This time, Rodríguez (whose name we shorten based on Spanish naming customs) appeals the district court's denial of his motion to reduce his sentence under the First Step Act. As we'll explain shortly, we affirm. I It all started more than twenty years ago at La Recta, a section of San Juan's Nemesio R. Canales public housing project.1 Rodríguez I, 714 F.3d at 4. Local kingpin Melvin Méndez-Roldán ran the crack cocaine business there, and he "charged a monthly rent to other drug owners who wanted to sell marijuana" at that same spot. Id. (cleaned up). And while Méndez (who "regularly patrolled La Recta with firearms" and "frequently used violence, including lethal violence" to maintain control of his fiefdom) was arrested in 2003, he still ran the show from his prison cell for a while. Id. at 4-5. 1 We set the stage with the facts and history from our first opinion on Rodríguez, which itself draws from a jury verdict we upheld as evidentiarily sufficient. See Rodríguez I, 714 F.3d at 8. - 2 -  Enter stage left Rodríguez. In 2004, he began selling marijuana (about a pound every couple of days) throughout La Recta and carrying a gun while he did so. Id. at 5. And after Méndez's arrest, Rodríguez and some fellow dealers sought to protect and even expand their business, largely through violence. Id. That campaign culminated in two especially disturbing events. First was a drive-by-shooting where Rodríguez (alongside four others) took a stolen SUV and some heavy-duty guns (like AK-47s) to a rival dealer's spot and opened fire -- killing three people. Id. Second was the cold-blooded murder of another drug dealer, Agustín. Id. at 5-6. One day, after a compatriot of Rodríguez (Héctor González-Suárez) greeted Agustín with an embrace, Rodríguez shot Agustín in the back of the head. Id. at 6. Rodríguez and González continued to shoot Agustín once he hit the ground, and he succumbed to the gunshot wounds. Id. For these acts (and others), Rodríguez was arrested and charged with several crimes. Id. We'll spare the finer procedural details and just say that a jury ultimately convicted him and other dealers (including Méndez and González) of two charges. Id. Count One was conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute both marijuana and over 50 grams of crack cocaine (contra 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 860), and Count Two was conspiracy to possess and use (among other ver