United States v. Sawyer

• Decision Date: 02 December 2016
• Docket Number: CASE NO. 2:06–CR–298–WKW
• Citation: 225 F.Supp.3d 1314
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Reginald Lashawn SAWYER.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

225 F.Supp.3d 1314

UNITED STATES of America

v.Reginald Lashawn SAWYER.

CASE NO. 2:06–CR–298–WKW

United States District Court, M.D. Alabama, Northern Division.

Signed December 2, 2016

Verne H. Speirs, U.S. Attorney's Office, Montgomery, AL, for United States of America.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

W. Keith Watkins, CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. INTRODUCTION

In 2008, Defendant Reginald Lashawn Sawyer received a sentence of 168–months on felony drug-trafficking and firearm convictions. That sentence reflects a significant downward departure from a statutorily required minimum sentence based upon the Government's motion recognizing the substantial assistance provided by Mr. Sawyer. In November 2014, after Mr. Sawyer's sentence had become final, the United States Sentencing Commission promulgated Amendment 782 to the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("U.S.S.G."), which in conjunction with Amendment 788, retroactively reduced by two levels the base offense levels for most drug quantities in U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1.

Mr. Sawyer's case was referred to this district's Retroactivity Screening Panel ("Panel")¹ for a recommendation on whether Mr. Sawyer is eligible for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and Amendments 782 and 788. The Panel was unable to reach a unanimous recommendation. It reached an impasse as to the applicability of another 2014 amendment to the Guidelines, namely, Amendment 780. Amendment 780 revised the policy statement governing § 3582(c)(2) by adding U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(c). Section 1B1.10(c), in pertinent part, requires a sentencing court, which originally imposed a sentence below a statutory mandatory minimum pursuant to a government substantial-assistance motion, to ignore the mandatory minimum for purposes of § 3582(c)(2). Amendment 780 is contrary to Eleventh Circuit precedent, which holds that a defendant whose sentence reflects a substantial-assistance departure below a statutory mandatory minimum is not eligible for a § 3582(c)(2) sentence reduction. In that instance, the defendant's sentence is based on a statutory mandatory minimum, and is not "based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission" as required under § 3582(c)(2). See United States v. Glover , 686 F.3d 1203, 1207 (11th Cir. 2012) ; United States v. Mills , 613 F.3d 1070, 1078 (11th Cir. 2010). The Panel is divided on whether Amendment 780 controls over a statutory mandatory minimum and Eleventh Circuit case law, with the majority of the Panel being of the opinion that the statute imposing the mandatory minimum controls the outcome.

To resolve the Panel's impasse, the court must decide (1) whether Mr. Sawyer is eligible for a sentence reduction where the statutory mandatory minimum on his drug-related offenses exceeded his guideline range and he received a substantial-assistance departure below the mandatory minimum and (2) and, if he is eligible, whether the applicable 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors warrant a reduction. For the reasons that follow, Mr. Sawyer is not eligible for a § 3582(c)(2) sentence reduction because Amendment 780 exceeds the Sentencing Commission's statutory authority. Even if Mr. Sawyer were eligible for a sentence reduction, the § 3553(a) factors would not justify a reduction.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Mr. Sawyer's Sentence

Mr. Sawyer is serving a 168–month sentence in a federal prison based upon his guilty plea to federal drug and firearm charges. Imposed in 2008, Mr. Sawyer's sentence consists of 108 months, concurrently, on two counts for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and marijuana (Counts 1 and 3, respectively) and one count for being a felon in possession of a firearm (Count 5), and 60 months, consecutively, on a firearms offense under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (Count 4).

Mr. Sawyer's convictions exposed him to a statutory sentencing range of 10 years to life on Count 1, not more than 5 years on Count 2, not more than 10 years on Count 5, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years on Count 4, to be served consecutively to the sentence on Counts 1, 2, and 5. Although Count 1, at that time, carried a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of ten years, see 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) (eff. July 27, 2006 to Apr. 14, 2009), Mr. Sawyer had a prior felony drug conviction, and the Government filed a motion to enhance his penalties in accordance with 21 U.S.C. § 851. The statutory enhancement increased Mr. Sawyer's penalty on Count 1 from a mandatory minimum term of not less than 10 years to a mandatory minimum term of not less than 20 years. Additionally, the statutory enhancement on Count 3 increased Mr. Sawyer's maximum sentence from not more than 5 years to not more than 10 years.

In the absence of the 240–month statutory mandatory minimum sentence on Count 1, Mr. Sawyer's guideline range on Count 1 would have been 97 to 121 months based upon an offense level of 29 and criminal history category of II.² Mr. Sawyer's restricted guideline range on Counts 3 and 5 would have been 97 to 120 months. See U.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(c)(1). Because the 240–month statutorily required minimum sentence on Count 1 was greater than the maximum of the applicable guideline range, 240 months became the guideline sentence for the grouped counts.³ SeeU.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(b) ("Where a statutorily required minimum sentence is greater than the maximum of the applicable guideline range, the statutorily required minimum sentence shall be the guideline sentence.").

At sentencing, the court granted the Government's motion for a downward departure for substantial assistance pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 and 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) and found that a six-level departure was warranted.⁴ The sentence on Count 1 departed downward from the statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 240 months in accordance with the dictates of United States v. Head , 178 F.3d 1205 (11th Cir. 1999). Head holds that, where the guideline range is lower than the statutory mandatory minimum sentence, the starting point for a substantial assistance departure is the statutory mandatory minimum and not the lower guideline range. Under Head , the sentencing court had to apply a reduction for substantial assistance starting with the mandatory minimum of 240 months. Mr. Sawyer's substantial-assistance departure reflects a reduction of 55% (or 132 months) below the mandatory minimum of 240 months.⁵

In November 2012, the court, on its own motion, found that Mr. Sawyer was not eligible for a § 3582(c)(2) sentence reduction under Amendments 750 and 759, which operated together to retroactively lower base offense levels for certain cocaine base offenses to conform to the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. See U.S.S.G. app. C, amend. 750, 759 (2011). The court reasoned that, notwithstanding that the applicable guidelines had been lowered, Mr. Sawyer still was subject to the statutory mandatory minimum of 240 months, which remained the guideline sentence. (Order (Doc. # 56).) In other words, the retroactive amendment did not lower Mr. Sawyer's guideline range.

Four years later, in November 2014, Amendment 782 went into effect, with retroactive application. Mr. Sawyer's case is before the court for a determination of whether he is eligible for a § 3582(c)(2) sentence reduction based upon Amendment 782 and, if so, whether the § 3553(a) factors warrant a reduction.

B. Sentence Reduction Authorities

Whether Mr. Sawyer is eligible for a sentence reduction implicates § 3582(c)(2), Amendments 780, 782, and 788 to the United States Sentencing Guidelines, and Eleventh Circuit precedent. It is helpful, therefore, to provide a brief overview of these authorities.

1. § 3582(c)(2)

"Federal courts are forbidden, as a general matter, to modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed, but the rule of finality is subject to a few narrow exceptions." Freeman v. United States , 564 U.S. 522, 526, 131 S.Ct. 2685, 180 L.Ed.2d 519 (2011) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). Section 3582(c)(2) supplies one of those narrow exceptions. Under § 3582(c)(2), a court is permitted, but not required, to reduce a sentence if (1) the defendant "has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission," (2) the court has "consider[ed] the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable," and (3) "a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission." § 3582(c)(2).

2. Guideline Amendments

a. Amendments 782 and 788

The Sentencing Commission has lowered specified sentencing ranges pursuant to Amendment 782. Effective November 1, 2014, Amendment 782 reduced by two levels the base offense levels for most drug quantities in U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1. See U.S.S.G. Manual, supp. app. C, amend. 782 at 64–74, amend. 788, at 86–88 (Nov. 1, 2014). Amendment 788, by including Amendment 782 on the list of amendments in U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(d), made Amendment 782 retroactive, effective November 1, 2015, so as to lower sentences of qualifying previously sentenced inmates.⁶

b. Amendment 780 (now § 1B1.10(c) )

Additionally, effective November 1, 2014, Amendment 780 added a new subsection (c) to § 1B1.10, which is the policy statement governing § 3582(c)(2). See Dillon v. United States , 560 U.S. 817, 819, 130 S.Ct. 2683, 177 L.Ed.2d 271 (2010) (observing that the "policy statement governing § 3582(c)(2) proceedings" is set forth in § 1B1.10 ). Section 1B1.10(c) is titled "Cases Involving Mandatory Minimum Sentences and Substantial Assistance" and provides:

If the case involves a statutorily required minimum sentence and the court had the authority to impose a sentence below the statutorily required minimum sentence pursuant to a government motion to reflect the defendant's substantial assistance to authorities, then for purposes of this policy statement the amended guideline range shall be determined without regard to the operation of § 5G1.1 (Sentencing on a

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