United States v. Newbern, No. 22-1244 (7th Cir. 2022)
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In 2005 Newbern pleaded guilty to possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute. District judge Herndon found that Newbern had prior convictions for crimes of violence, including reckless discharge of a firearm, qualifying him as a career offender, and had distributed at least 50 grams of crack cocaine. With an advisory range of 262–327 months’ imprisonment, he sentenced Newbern to 300 months, explaining that he would have imposed the same sentence regardless of the career-offender determination.
The Seventh Circuit subsequently held that reckless discharge of a firearm is not a crime of violence. Judge Herndon twice denied Newbern relief, reiterating that he would have sentenced Newbern to 25 years regardless of his career-offender status. Newbern later sought resentencing under the First Step Act; he met the criteria for relief: his sentence was based on the pre–Fair Sentencing Act crack-to-powder ratio, he committed his crime before August 2, 2010, his sentence had not been previously reduced under the First Step Act, and a previous motion for a sentence reduction had not been denied on the merits. Newbern reiterated that reckless discharge of a firearm no longer qualifies as a crime of violence and underscored his prison record. Judge Yandle denied Newbern’s motion, noting that Newbern’s guidelines range remained the same and adopting Herndon’s statements.
The Seventh Circuit vacated, citing the 2022 Supreme Court holding (“Concepcion”) that “when deciding a First Step Act motion, district courts bear the standard obligation to explain their decisions and demonstrate that they considered the parties’ arguments.” The district court did not consider Newbern’s good-conduct argument.
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