                                                                           FILED
                           NOT FOR PUBLICATION
                                                                           APR 20 2017
                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                      MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
                                                                         U.S. COURT OF APPEALS


                            FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                        No. 15-50210

              Plaintiff-Appellee,                D.C. No. 3:14-cr-03692-BEN

 v.
                                                 MEMORANDUM*
ARTURO CHAVEZ-MELGOZA,

              Defendant-Appellant.


                    Appeal from the United States District Court
                      for the Southern District of California
                    Roger T. Benitez, District Judge, Presiding

                            Submitted April 11, 2017**

Before:      GOULD, CLIFTON, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.

      Arturo Chavez-Melgoza appeals from the district court’s judgment and

challenges the 37-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for

importation of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952, 960. We have

jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we vacate and remand for resentencing.

      *
             This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
      **
             The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
      Chavez-Melgoza argues that the district court erred in denying a minor role

reduction to his base offense level under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b). After Chavez-

Melgoza was sentenced, the United States Sentencing Commission issued

Amendment 794 (“the Amendment”), which amended the commentary to the

minor role Guideline. The Amendment is retroactive to cases pending on direct

appeal. See United States v. Quintero-Leyva, 823 F.3d 519, 523 (9th Cir. 2016).

      The Amendment clarified that, in assessing whether a defendant should

receive a minor role adjustment, the court should compare him to the other

participants in the crime, rather than to a hypothetical average participant. See

U.S.S.G. App. C. Amend. 794; Quintero-Leyva, 823 F.3d at 523. In addition, the

Amendment clarified that “[t]he fact that a defendant performs an essential or

indispensable role in the criminal activity is not determinative.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2

cmt. n.3(C) (2015). Finally, the Amendment added a non-exhaustive list of factors

that a court “should consider” in determining whether to apply a minor role

reduction. See id. Because we cannot determine from the record whether the

district court followed the guidance of the Amendment’s clarifying language and

considered all of the now-relevant factors, we vacate Chavez-Melgoza’s sentence

and remand for resentencing under the Amendment. See Quintero-Leyva, 823 F.3d

at 523-24.


                                          2                                    15-50210
      For purposes of resentencing, we note that because Chavez-Melgoza is

safety valve eligible, he is exempt from the statutory minimum term of supervised

release. See U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2 cmt. n.9.

      VACATED and REMANDED for resentencing.




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