United States v. Charles

Defendant plead guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of cocaine base . On appeal, defendant challenged the district court's denial of his motion for a reduction of sentence. The court concluded that, because defendant was sentenced before August 3, 2010, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA), Pub. L. No. 111-220, 124 Stat. 2372, did not affect his sentence. The court held that Amendment 750 did not apply to or help defendants who were sentenced as career offenders under U.S.S.G. 4B1.1. Because defendant was sentenced as a career offender under U.S.S.G. 4B1.1, the retroactive amendments to the drug guidelines under U.S.S.G. 2D1.1 did not qualify him for sentence reduction. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Charles" on Justia Law