United States v. Holder, No. 19-3418 (8th Cir. 2020)
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Defendant pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy to distribute at least 50 grams of cocaine base. On appeal, defendant challenged the district court's denial of her motion to reduce her sentence under Section 404 of the First Step Act of 2018. Most of defendant's arguments on appeal were rejected in the Eighth Circuit's recent decisions resolving First Step Act issues.
However, the court agreed with defendant's contention that the district court erred in determining her amended guidelines sentencing range under the Act. Because the record does not permit the court to determine whether this error was harmless under the Supreme Court's rigorous standard governing procedural Guidelines errors, the court remanded for resentencing.
Court Description: [Loken, Author, with Shepherd and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. While most of defendant's arguments about the denial of her First Step Act motion are foreclosed by this court's recent First Step Act decisions, the district court did err in determining defendant's amended guidelines sentencing range under the Fair Sentencing Act; as the record does not permit this court to say whether this error was harmless under the Supreme Court's rigorous standard governing procedural Guidelines error, the matter must be remanded for resentencing.
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