No. 20-1360

JULIO A. RODRÍGUEZ-MÉNDEZ,

Petitioner, Appellant,

v.

UNITED STATES,

Respondent, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Hon. Gustavo A. Gelpí, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Barron, Chief Judge, Montecalvo and Aframe, Circuit Judges.

Kevin E. Lerman, Assistant Federal Public Defender with whom Rachel Brill, Federal Public Defender, District of Puerto Rico, Héctor L. Ramos-Vega, Interim Federal Public Defender, District of Puerto Rico, and Franco L. Pérez-Redondo, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Supervisor, Appeals Division, were on brief, for Appellant. Michael A. Rotker, with whom, W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney, Mariana E. Bauzá-Almonte, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division, and Ricardo A. Imbert-Fernández, Assistant United States Attorney, were on brief, for Appellee.

April 8, 2025 AFRAME, Circuit Judge. This is an appeal from the district court's denial of Julio Rodríguez-Méndez's ("Rodríguez") motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. In his motion, Rodríguez sought relief from (1) his conviction for felon-in-possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) on double jeopardy grounds and (2) his sentence for that offense, which was based on the sentencing court's conclusion that he was an armed career criminal under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). We reject the double jeopardy claim but agree that Rodríguez should not have been sentenced as an armed career criminal.

BACKGROUND

In November 2004, Rodríguez participated in a carjacking in Puerto Rico while possessing a firearm. That conduct resulted in successive prosecutions in the Puerto Rico Commonwealth courts and the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Rodríguez was first prosecuted in a Commonwealth court for robbery of a motor vehicle in violation Article 173B of the Puerto Rico Penal Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 33 § 4279b (repealed 2004), and for carrying a weapon without a license in violation of Article 5.04 of the Puerto Rico Weapons Law, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 25, § 458c (repealed 2013). Rodríguez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to twelve years in prison.

Following the Commonwealth conviction, a federal grand jury indicted Rodríguez on three counts arising from the same

- 2 - carjacking: aiding and abetting a carjacking, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 2119; aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 924(c); and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon ("felon-in-possession"), 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2).1 In addition, because he had at least three prior convictions for robbery of a motor vehicle in violation of Article 173B, Rodríguez was charged as an armed career criminal pursuant to the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) [hereinafter ACCA or the Act].2

Rodríguez pleaded guilty to the felon-in-possession count and the government dismissed the other charges. He was sentenced in November 2006. Due in part to the ACCA's heightened statutory penalties, Rodríguez received 216 months of imprisonment. Rodríguez filed a notice of appeal but voluntarily dismissed the appeal in October 2008. Rodríguez did not

1 When Rodríguez was indicted, the penalty provision for § 922(g) was § 924(a)(2). "The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Pub. L. No. 117-159, § 12004, 136 Stat. 1313, 1329 (2022), has si