United States Tenth Circuit

Absent extraordinary circumstances, once a defendant's guilty plea has been accepted by the court, the government is bound by its plea-agreement promises regarding sentencing recommendations even if the plea agreement has not yet been accepted by the court, and even if it is ultimately rejected by the court. A sentence pursuant to a plea to illegal reentry after deportation for an aggravated felony is reversed and remanded for resentencing before a different judge where: 1) the government was bound by a plea agreement after defendant's guilty plea was accepted by the court; and 2) it blatantly violated its promises under the agreement.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/20/2008
• Published 08/21/2008

Judges

• HARTZ, Circuit Judge., Before HARTZ, EBEL, and O'BRIEN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Timothy J. Henry, Assistant Public Defender, Federal Public Defender Office, Wichita, KS, for Defendant-Appellant., Brent I. Anderson, Assistant United States Attorney, (Eric F. Melgren, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Wichita, KS, for Plaintiff-Appellee.