Filed: Jul. 05, 2013
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: Case: 12-12123 Date Filed: 07/05/2013 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 12-12123 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 4:93-cr-04028-WS-WCS-7 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus DAN OTIN JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida _ (July 5, 2013) Before MARCUS, MARTIN, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Dan Otin Johnson, a federal priso
Summary: Case: 12-12123 Date Filed: 07/05/2013 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 12-12123 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 4:93-cr-04028-WS-WCS-7 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus DAN OTIN JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida _ (July 5, 2013) Before MARCUS, MARTIN, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Dan Otin Johnson, a federal prison..
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Case: 12-12123 Date Filed: 07/05/2013 Page: 1 of 4
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 12-12123
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 4:93-cr-04028-WS-WCS-7
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
DAN OTIN JOHNSON,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Florida
________________________
(July 5, 2013)
Before MARCUS, MARTIN, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Dan Otin Johnson, a federal prisoner appearing pro se, appeals the district
court’s denial of his 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) motion for a sentence reduction,
Case: 12-12123 Date Filed: 07/05/2013 Page: 2 of 4
pursuant to Amendment 750 to the Sentencing Guidelines. On appeal, Johnson
asserts that the PSI held him accountable for only 1.5 kilograms of cocaine base
when it calculated his offense level, and his sentence should be reduced based on
that drug quantity under Amendment 750.
We review de novo a district court’s legal conclusions in regard to the scope
of its authority under the Sentencing Guidelines. United States v. Moore,
541 F.3d
1323, 1326 (11th Cir. 2008). Facts contained in a PSI are deemed admitted for
sentencing purposes unless a party objects to them clearly and specifically at
sentencing. United States v. Davis,
587 F.3d 1300, 1303-04 (11th Cir. 2009). A
district court may modify the imprisonment term of a defendant who has been
sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has
subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission. 18 U.S.C. §
3582(c)(2). Part A of Amendment 750 amended § 2D1.1 by reducing base offense
levels associated with various amounts of crack cocaine under the Drug Quantity
Table in § 2D1.1(c). See U.S.S.G. App. C, Amend. 750, Pt. A. In 2011, the
Sentencing Commission made Parts A and C of Amendment 750 retroactive. 76
Fed. Reg. 41332-01 (2011). Amendment 750 became effective and retroactive on
November 1, 2011. U.S.S.G. App. C, Amends. 750, 759.
A district court must follow a two-step process in ruling on a § 3582(c)(2)
motion. United States v. Bravo,
203 F.3d 778, 780 (11th Cir. 2000). First, the court
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Case: 12-12123 Date Filed: 07/05/2013 Page: 3 of 4
must recalculate the defendant’s sentence “by substituting the amended guideline
range for the originally applied guideline range, and then using that new base level
to determine what ultimate sentence it would have imposed.”
Id. According to the
Sentencing Guidelines, in determining whether a reduction in the defendant’s
imprisonment term is warranted, “the court shall determine the amended guideline
range that would have been applicable to the defendant if the [applicable
retroactive amendment] had been in effect at the time the defendant was
sentenced.” U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(b)(1). In making such a determination, the court
shall substitute only the applicable retroactive amendment for the corresponding
guideline provisions that were applied when the defendant was sentenced and shall
leave all other guideline application decisions unaffected.
Id. At the second step,
the court has the discretion to decide whether to retain the original sentence or to
resentence the defendant under the amended guideline range. See
Bravo, 203 F.3d
at 781.
“By its terms, § 3582(c)(2) does not authorize a sentencing or resentencing
proceeding.” Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. __, __,
130 S. Ct. 2683, 2690
(2010). The Supreme Court has rejected a defendant’s argument that the district
court erred in failing to correct two mistakes in his original sentence, concluding
that, because such aspects of his sentence were not affected by the amendment to §
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2D1.1, they were outside the scope of the proceeding authorized by § 3582(c)(2).
Id. at , 130 S. Ct. at 2693-94.
Here, the record clearly demonstrates that the district court found that
Johnson was accountable for between 5 and 20 kilograms of cocaine base. The
district court sentenced Johnson based on a total offense level of 45, which resulted
in a guideline range of life imprisonment. Although Johnson argues that the district
court erred in holding him accountable for between 5 and 20 kilograms, the district
court must “leave all of its previous factual decisions intact.” United States v.
Hamilton,
715 F.3d 328, 337 (11th Cir. 2013) (citing United States v. Cothran,
106
F.3d 1560, 1562-63 (11th Cir. 1997)). Accordingly, even if Johnson is only held
accountable for 5 kilograms of cocaine base, his total offense level under
Amendment 750 would be 43 and his guideline range would still be life
imprisonment. Thus, Amendment 750 did not lower Johnson’s guideline range and
did not empower, let alone obligate, the district court to reduce his sentence.
AFFIRMED.
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