The following excerpt is from United States v. Newton, 19-999-cr (2nd Cir. 2020):
1. Newton further challenges the Government's decision to seek a sentence beyond the 180 months estimated in the plea agreement was "unexplained and unreasonable." Appellant's Br. at 29-30. This challenge is unpersuasive. Although the range stated there turned out to be erroneous, the plea agreement explicitly stated that the Guidelines range it presented was a non-binding estimate. See United States v. MacPherson, 590 F.3d 215, 219 (2d Cir. 2009) (finding no plain error where the Government advocates for a sentence that is higher than that estimated in the plea agreement where it is clear from the language of the plea agreement and the plea colloquy that the defendant understood that the estimate was subject to change).
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