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UNITED STATES v. BRASWELL (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-01-27No. No. 19-30140

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's order denying retroactive sentence reduction under the First Step Act and granting a sentence reduction to time served under § 3582(c)(2).

Cyrus Braswell appealed the district court's denial of his motion for a retroactive sentence reduction under the First Step Act of 2018, as well as its decision to reduce his sentence to time served under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). Braswell had already served 260 months, exceeding the upper limit of the amended sentencing guideline range of 188–235 months that would have applied following Amendment 750. Because Braswell had already served a period longer than any reduced sentence the court could impose, the district court properly reduced his sentence to time served, as federal law prohibits a reduced sentence from being less than time already served.

Braswell also sought relief under the First Step Act's provisions permitting retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 to certain crack cocaine offenses. The district court correctly determined that Braswell was ineligible because his offense involved 1,942 grams of crack cocaine, whereas the retroactive provision applies only to offenses involving 280 or more grams. The court rejected Braswell's argument that the First Step Act authorized a full resentencing at which the court could reconsider its original sentencing decisions. The court also declined to address Braswell's challenge to the indictment because he had previously been denied a certificate of appealability on that issue.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether district court abused discretion in reducing sentence to time served under § 3582(c)(2)
  • Whether defendant was entitled to retroactive relief under the First Step Act's fair sentencing provisions
  • Whether First Step Act permits full resentencing with reconsideration of original sentencing determinations

Procedural posture

Braswell appealed pro se from the district court's orders denying his motion for retroactive sentence reduction under the First Step Act and granting his motion for sentence reduction under § 3582(c)(2).

Authorities cited

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Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Cyrus D.A. Braswell appeals pro se from the district courts order denying his motion for a retroactive sentence reduction under the First Step Act of 2018 and granting his motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

Braswell first contends that, under § 3582(c)(2), the district court was required to resentence him to a term within the 188-235 month amended Guidelines range resulting from the application of Amendment 750. The district court did not abuse its discretion by reducing Braswells sentence to time served. See Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817, 827, 130 S.Ct. 2683, 177 L.Ed.2d 271 (2010). As the district court correctly noted, Braswell had already served 260 months of his sentence—a period longer than the high end of the amended Guidelines range—and therefore could not receive a sentence reduction below time served. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(b)(2)(C) (“In no event may the reduced term of imprisonment be less than the term of imprisonment the defendant has already served.”).

Braswell next contends that the district court erred by denying his motion for sentence reduction under § 404(b) of the First Step Act, which, inter alia, permits retroactive application of § 2 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 for certain crack cocaine offenses. See United States v. Kelley, 962 F.3d 470, 472 (9th Cir. 2020). The district court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that Braswell was not entitled to relief under the First Step Act. See id. As the court correctly noted, the mandatory minimum sentence and Guidelines range applicable to Braswell were unchanged by the retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act because his original offense involved 1,942 grams of crack cocaine. See id. (noting that § 2 requires that a covered offense involve 280 or more grams of crack cocaine, rather than only 50 or more grams, in order to trigger a sentence of 10 years to life). Moreover, contrary to Braswells contentions, the First Step Act does not authorize a plenary resentencing at which the district court can reconsider its original sentencing determinations. See id. at 475.

Braswell also challenges the district courts separate order denying, as an unauthorized second or successive motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, his motion to dismiss the indictment. Braswell previously sought to challenge this order, but this court denied him a certificate of appealability in Appeal No. 19-35642. Braswells contentions regarding the sufficiency of the indictment are therefore not properly before us, and we will not consider them.

We also decline to consider Braswells remaining arguments as not properly before this court.

All pending motions are denied.

AFFIRMED.