Case Explained: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. RICARDO DELGADO, II ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-06-15 The Sixth Circuit affirmed Ricardo Delgado’s conviction and 60-year sentence, rejecting his challenges regarding the denial of a trial continuance, the admission of specific evidence, and the procedural reasonableness of his sentence. The court applied an abuse of discretion standard to review the denial of Delgado’s sixth motion for a continuance, finding no prejudice because he had ample time over two years to review the evidence related to new charges and failed to demonstrate that additional time would have allowed him to secure specific witnesses or motions. Regarding evidentiary rulings, the court held that Delgado’s statements to his probation officer regarding his intent to resume drug dealing were admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 402 as relevant proof of motive and intent, and did not violate Rules 404(b) or 403 because they were not unfairly prejudicial. Similarly, the court upheld the admission of recorded phone calls in which Delgado encouraged a co-conspirator to commit violence, ruling that the calls were directly probative of his role in the conspiracy and ownership of firearms, and any potential prejudice was mitigated by jury instructions limiting the evidence’s use to intent and motive. Finally, while acknowledging the district court committed plain error by failing to explicitly state the calculated Guidelines range during sentencing, the court affirmed the sentence because the record clearly showed the court had determined the correct range (720 months to life) and imposed a sentence at the bottom of that range, meaning the procedural omission did not affect Delgado’s substantial rights or the fairness of the proceedings. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.