United States v. Nichols, No. 15-1108 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseFollowing his guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamines, 21 U.S.C. 846, 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), Nichols was sentenced to 127 months in prison. A year later, in response to a government motion under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(b), the court reduced the sentence to 88 months. His guideline range was 151 to 188 months, but the court concluded that a below-range sentence was appropriate based on his substantial assistance to the government. In hopes of securing an additional reduction, Nichols filed a motion under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c) based on the retroactive application of Amendment 782 to the Sentencing Guidelines, which lowered by two levels the offense levels specified in the Drug Quantity Table. The district court took off another five months, leaving Nichols with a sentence of 83 months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting an argument that the court used the wrong baseline and did not give him a generous enough reduction. Because Nichols sought and received an 83-month sentence, he has waived any argument for a different sentence. The district court’s decision whether to reduce a sentence under section 3582(c)(2) is discretionary. The district court’s decision was a sound one.
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