United States v. Douglas Meeks, No. 11-3885 (8th Cir. 2012)

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Court Description: Criminal Case - sentence reduction. District court did not abuse its discretion in denying reduction because Meeks was sentenced before enactment of Fair Sentencing Act and he received the statutory mandatory minimum sentence.

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United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 11-3885 ___________ United States of America, Appellee, v. Douglas Marcel Meeks, Appellant. * * * * Appeal from the United States * District Court for the * Southern District of Iowa. * * [UNPUBLISHED] * ___________ Submitted: April 23, 2012 Filed: May 1, 2012 ___________ Before WOLLMAN, MELLOY, and SMITH, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. Douglas Meeks appeals the district court s1 order denying his request for a post-judgment sentence reduction. Upon careful review, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Meeks s request, see United States v. Whiting, 522 F.3d 845, 852-53 (8th Cir. 2008) (standard of review), because Meeks was sentenced before the enactment of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 and he received a statutory mandatory minimum sentence, see United States v. Sidney, 648 F.3d 904, 908 (8th Cir. 2011) (statutory mandatory minimums have always trumped 1 The Honorable John A. Jarvey, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. Guidelines, even where amended Guidelines would have otherwise called for shorter sentence); United States v. Orr, 636 F.3d 944, 957-58 (8th Cir. 2011) (Fair Sentencing Act did not apply retroactively to defendant who was sentenced before enactment of FSA to mandatory minimum sentence of life under 21 U.S.C. ยง 841(b)(1)(A)). Accordingly, we affirm. In addition, we deny Meeks s motion to hold this appeal in abeyance. ______________________________ -2-

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