United States District Court, N.D. Indiana
OPINION AND ORDER
THERESA L. SPRINGMANN CHIEF JUDGE
This
matter is before the Court on a Joint Motion for Imposition
of a Reduced Sentence Pursuant to Section 404 of the First
Step Act and Amended Sentencing Guidelines [ECF No. 45]. In
that Motion, the Defendant and the Government agree that the
Fair Sentencing Act's modified penalty provision for
supervised release would have applied to Defendant LaShawn
Young's crack-cocaine conviction had the Act been in
effect at the time of his sentencing. Additionally, Amendment
782 to the Sentencing Guidelines reduces the Defendant's
advisory guideline range. The Joint Motion requests that the
Court reduce the Defendant's sentence to 237 months and 3
years of supervised release.
BACKGROUND
The
Defendant is serving a term of imprisonment on his conviction
for distributing cocaine base, a violation of 21 U.S.C.
§ 841(a)(1). Based on the amount of crack cocaine, 1.5
kilograms, the statutory maximum term of imprisonment was 20
years. Thus, although the Defendant's guideline range was
360 months to life, he was sentenced to the statutory maximum
of 240 months. Amendment 782, which reduced the offense level
for drug trafficking offenses, has the effect of lowing the
Defendant's guideline range to 235 months at the low end.
The high end is still the statutory maximum, which has not
changed. However, the Defendant is subject to a different
penalty provision for his term of supervised release, with
the minimum term being reduced from 4 years to 3 years. The
Defendant requests, through the Joint Motion, that the
Defendant's sentence be reduced to 237 months
imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release. The parties
agree that all other conditions of supervision shall remain
the same.
DISCUSSION
Courts
have limited grounds to modify a term of imprisonment once it
is imposed. See 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). Once such
scenario exists
in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term
of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has
subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(o), upon motion of the defendant or
the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or on its own motion,
the court may reduce the term of imprisonment, after
considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the
extent that they are applicable, if such a reduction is
consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the
Sentencing Commission.
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2); see also United States v.
Stevenson, 749 F.3d 667, 669 (7th Cir. 2014) (noting
that a court may reduce a sentence under § 3582(c)(2)
“if (1) the original sentence was ‘based on'
a subsequently lowered sentencing range and (2) the reduction
is consistent with the policy statements issued by the
Commission”).
The
First Step Act permits a court that imposed a sentence for a
“covered offense” to now “impose a reduced
sentence as if sections 2 . . . of the Fair Sentence Act of
2010” were in effect at the time the “covered
offense” was committed. First Step Act, § 404 (b).
A “covered offense” is “a violation of a
Federal criminal statute, the statutory penalties for which
were modified by section 2 . . . of the Fair Sentencing Act,
” that was committed before August 3, 2010.
The
parties agree that the Defendant meets the criteria to be
eligible for reduction under § 3582(c) based on the
Amendment 782, and under Section 404 of the First Step Act.
The Addendum provided by the U.S. Probation Office does not
identify any public safety factors that would adversely
impact the Court's decision. The Court has considered the
Defendant's offense of conviction, the kinds of sentences
available, the Defendant's sanctioned disciplinary
incidents since incarceration, and other post sentencing
conduct. Having now considered the Joint Motion, and the
sentencing factors of § 3553(a), the Court will reduce
the Defendant's sentence to 237 months, with 3 years of
supervised release to follow.
CONCLUSION
Based
on the above, the Court hereby ORDERS that:
1. The Joint Motion [ECF No. 45] is GRANTED;
2. An amended judgment be entered reducing the
Defendant's sentence to 237 months, with 3 years of
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