United States v. Ruben Cazares

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 23-2863
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United States of America
Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Ruben Cazares
Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the District of Minnesota
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Submitted: April 12, 2024
Filed: May 30, 2024
[Unpublished]
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Before BENTON, GRASZ, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
After Ruben Cazares pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute
methamphetamine, the district court1 sentenced him to 10 years in prison. See 21
1
The Honorable Eric C. Tostrud, United States District Judge for the District
of Minnesota.
U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846. He argues that he did not deserve a two-level “organizer,
leader, manager, or supervisor” role enhancement. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c).
There was no error, procedural or otherwise, because the evidence established
that Cazares supervised at least one other person. See United States v. Werkmeister,
62 F.4th 465, 468 (8th Cir. 2023) (reviewing for clear error). For one thing, he told
a co-conspirator how much methamphetamine to give a buyer. See id. at 470 (noting
that “direct[ing] the criminal activities of another conspirator on one occasion” is
enough for the enhancement); see also United States v. Gamboa, 701 F.3d 265, 267
(8th Cir. 2012). For another, cellphone records showed that he was a “key link”
between drug suppliers and local distributors. United States v. Reyes-Ramirez, 916
F.3d 1146, 1148 (8th Cir. 2019) (citation omitted). He played a supervisory or
managerial role, in other words, so we affirm the judgment of the district court.
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