Archive | crack amendment

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

PC World

United States v. Key, No. 08-3218-cr (2d Cir. April 28, 2010) (Miner, Cabranes, Wesley, CJJ) (per curiam)

This interesting per curiam holds that a defendant’s appeal of the denial of his crack resentencing motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) was rendered moot by his release from prison.

Although Key was still on supervised release, the court found that the possibility that the district court would reduce or terminate his supervised release term – assuming that it could – was “remote and speculative.” The district court’s findings in denying the § 3582(c)(2) motion caused the circuit to “strongly doubt” that the court would exercise its discretion in that way.…


Posted By
Categories: crack amendment, Uncategorized

Continue Reading
Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Out Of Range

United States v. Main, No. 08-4088-cr (2d Cir. August 27, 2009) (Walker, Wallace, CJJ)

Christopher Main pled guilty to a crack cocaine offense pursuant to a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) agreement that stipulated to maximum sentence of 96 months, which was below the 120 to 150-month guideline range, and provided a “carve-out” for Main to seek a downward departure. The district court accepted the plea agreement, granted Main a modest departure and sentenced him to 84 months’ imprisonment.

Three years later, Main moved for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10 because the Sentencing Commission had retroactively ameliorated the guideline covering crack offenses. The district court denied the motion, and the circuit affirmed.

Under the statute, a defendant is eligible for a sentence reduction only where the original sentence was “based on a sentencing range” that the Sentencing Commission has subsequently lowered. Here, however, Main’s sentence was …


Posted By
Categories: 1B1.10, 3582(c)(2), crack amendment, Uncategorized

Continue Reading
Friday, May 29th, 2009

Reduction Ad Absurdum

United States v. Savoy, No. 08-4800-cr (2d Cir. May 27, 2009)(per curiam)

After a 1998 jury trial on crack distribution charges, Demetric Savoy faced a guideline sentencing range of 188 to 235 months’ imprisonment, and received a sentence at the bottom of the range. In 2008, he moved, under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), for a sentence reduction under the retroactive ameliorating amendment to the crack guidelines. With that amendment, Savoy faced a revised range of 151 to 188. However, in the motion, he argued that the court should sentence him to 120 months. The district court granted the § 3583(c)(2) motion and reduced the sentence to 151 months, but refused to go lower. The court believed that the relevant guideline provision, § 1B1.10, was binding and precluded a sentence below the amended range.

On appeal, the circuit affirmed. The language of § 1B.10 is mandatory: the court “shall not reduce …


Posted By
Categories: 3582(c)(2), crack amendment, Uncategorized

Continue Reading
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Caboose of Discretion

United States v. Borden, No. 08-1625-cr (2d Cir. April 22, 2009: amended opinion) (Cabranes, Hall, CJJ, Sweet, DJ)

Every other circuit to consider the question has concluded that a district court’s denial of a crack retroactivity motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) is reviewed for abuse of discretion. With this decision, the Second Circuit joins the train.

Applying that standard here, the court affirmed. The district court reviewed the relevant records, considered the § 3553(a) factors and cited an appropriate reason – the danger that Borden posed to the community. In light of Borden’s lengthy criminal history, the district court was free to reject the Probation Department’s conclusion that Borden no longer “pose[d] a threat to society.”…


Posted By
Categories: 3582(c)(2), crack amendment, Uncategorized

Continue Reading
Sunday, January 25th, 2009

Crack a Smile

United States v. McGee, No. 08-1619-cr (2d Cir. January 23, 2009) (Pooler, Raggi, Livingson, CJJ) (per curiam)

Darius McGee, convicted of a crack cocaine offense, was a career offender. At his sentencing, however, the district court downwardly departed. It disregarded the career offender guideline range, and sentenced him under the offense level that would otherwise have applied. Subsequently, he moved for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c), seeking the benefit of the retroactive two-point offense level reduction for crack cocaine offenses. Because he had originally been a career offender, however, the district court denied the motion.

Calling the issue a “very close one,” the appellate court disagreed, and remanded the case for reconsideration of the 3582(c) motion. The court noted that McGee’s sentence was indeed “based on” a range that was subsequently lowered by the Sentencing Commission “because the district court premised McGee’s ultimate sentence on the crack …


Posted By
Categories: crack amendment, Uncategorized

Continue Reading
Saturday, January 17th, 2009

Crack Under Pressure

United States v. Williams, No. 08-1065-cr (2d Cir. January 7, 2009) (Hall, Livingston, Gibson, CJJ)

Here, the defendant, Saquan Lewis, unsuccessfully appealed the district court’s denial of his motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) based on the retroactive amendment to the Guideline for offenses involving crack cocaine.

The District Court Proceedings

Lewis had originally pled guilty to trafficking in crack cocaine and a 924(c) charge under a cooperation agreement. At sentencing, he agreed that he was responsible for between 50 and 150 grams of crack which, under the applicable version of the Guidelines, resulted in an offense level of 32, with 3 levels deducted for acceptance of responsibility. His sentencing range on the crack count was 97 to 121 months, but due to his prior felony, he faced a 20-year mandatory minimum on that charge and a 5-year consecutive sentence on the 924(c). After granting the …


Posted By
Categories: crack amendment, Uncategorized

Continue Reading