United States v. Rodriguez-Soriano, No. 15-30039 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of defendant's motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2), in light of Sentencing Guidelines Amendment 782, holding that defendant's original sentence was not actually "based on" a subsequently lowered guideline range. The Ninth Circuit noted that, given defendant's criminal history, in light of Amendment 780 and USSG 1B1.10(c), defendant's "applicable guideline range" would be lowered because of Amendment 782. However, because this inquiry goes only to the second requirement of section 3582(c)(2), it does not resolve whether, as a threshold matter, his original sentence was "based on" the guideline range the district court initially calculated.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of a motion pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) for a sentence reduction in light of Sentencing Guidelines Amendment 782, which lowered by two levels the base offense level calculated for certain drug types and quantities. The panel held that the defendant’s original sentence was not “based on” a subsequently lowered guideline range, and that he is therefore ineligible for a sentence reduction under the first requirement of § 3582(c)(2), where the record makes clear that the defendant’s initial guideline range played no role in the sentencing court’s determination of the appropriate sentence. The panel observed that the sentencing judge’s decision about the extent of a substantial- assistance departure was not based on or affected by the guideline range that would have applied in the absence of the statutory mandatory minimum. The panel noted that in light of Sentencing Guidelines Amendment 780 and U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(c) (providing that a defendant’s amended guideline range shall be determined without regard to the operation of any mandatory minimum if a substantial-assistance motion allowed the court to deviate below the minimum), the defendant’s applicable guideline range would be lowered due to Amendment 782, satisfying the second requirement for a reduction under
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