U.S. v. Ramirez-Mendoza

Dist. Ct. erred in sentencing defendant to above-guideline sentence of 144-month term of incarceration on drug conspiracy charge that included incident in which third-party was kidnapped. Defendant was entitled to new sentencing hearing where Dist. Ct. failed to address his claim that he was coerced into participating in kidnapping, and that he was therefore entitled to reduction in his offense level under section 5K2.12 of USSG. Fact that Dist. Ct. doubted defendant's credibility on different question did not constitute implicit rejection of defendant's coercion claim.