Criminal Procedure – breach of plea agreement

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Criminal Procedure – breach of plea agreement

Where the defendant fled to Mexico before sentencing for five years, the government did not breach the plea agreement; the defendant did.

“Given Munoz’s substantial breach, the government appropriately exercised its option to rescind the deal. See Kelly, 337 F.3d at 901; Ramunno, 133 F.3d at 484. Though we might have faced more difficult issues if the government had tried to enforce only a few select provisions of the plea agreement, the government has treated the entire plea agreement as void, including the provisions that would have benefitted it, such as Munoz’s waiver of his appeal rights. That waiver is now unenforceable along with the rest of the agreement. See United States v. Sakellarion, 649 F.3d 634, 639 (7th Cir. 2011) (‘an appellate waiver stands or falls with the rest of the bargain’) (internal quotation omitted); Nunez v. United States, 546 F.3d 450, 454 (7th Cir. 2008).”

Affirmed.

12-3351 U.S. v. Munoz

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, McKinney, J., Hamilton, J.