United States v. Collins

140 F. Supp. 3d 786, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139423, 2015 WL 5970661
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedOctober 14, 2015
DocketCause No. 1:07-CR-101-TLS
StatusPublished

This text of 140 F. Supp. 3d 786 (United States v. Collins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Collins, 140 F. Supp. 3d 786, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139423, 2015 WL 5970661 (N.D. Ind. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

THERESA L. SPRINGMANN, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the Defendant’s Petition for Reduction of Sentence Due to Amended Sentencing Guidelines [ECF No. 96], filed on August 26, 2015. The Government opposes the Defendant’s Motion. For the reasons stated herein, the Court finds that the Defendant is” not entitled to a. reduction of his sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(e)(2) and Amendment 782, and denies his Petition.

BACKGROUND

On January 18, 2008, the Defendant, Deveon Collins, entered into a Plea Agreement [ECF No. 31] with the Government. Under the terms of that Agreement, he agreed to plead guilty to Counts 2 and 4 of the Indictment charging him with possessing with the intent to distribute a controlled'substance in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and being a felon in possession of ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). In return, the Government agreed to dismiss Counts 3 and 5 of the Indictment at the time of sentencing. The Government and the Defendant further agreed that the Defendant was “to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 144 months,” and that the Government would “not file a sentencing enhancing information under 21 U.S.C. § 851 regarding the defendant’s prior felony drug conviction.” (Plea Agr. ¶ 7(d)(i), 7(d)(ii).) Filing an information under § 851 would have caused the Defendant’s statutory.mandatory minimum to increase from 10 years to 20 years.

On April 22, 2008, the Court accepted the Plea Agreement and sentenced the Defendant accordingly. He was sentenced to a term of 144 months imprisonment for the drug offense, and 120 months imprisonment for the felon in possession charge, to run concurrently.

DISCUSSION

Courts have limited authority to modify a term of imprisonment once it is [788]*788imposed.' See 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c); United States v. Stevenson, 749 F.3d 667, 669 (7th Cir.2014) (“A term of imprisonment is a final judgment that can only be modified in limited circumstances.”). ' Title 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) permits a' defendant to move for a sentence reduction if he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment “based on” a Guidelines sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by retroactive amendment. The Government asserts that the Defendant’s sentence was not based on the Guidelines. Instead, it. was based on a plea agreement that contained a binding term of imprisonment pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C), also referred to as a(C) agreement. This subsection of Rule 11 permits parties to “agree that a specific sentence or sentencing range is the appropriate disposition of the ease,” and “binds the court [to the agreed-upon sentence] once [it] accepts the plea agreement.” Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1)(C); see also id. (c)(4) (providing that if the court accepts such an agreement, “it must inform the defendant that ... the agreed disposition will be included in the judgment”).

In Freeman v. United States, 564 U.S. 522, 131 S.Ct. 2685, 180 L.Ed.2d 519 (2011), the Supreme Court considered whether defendants who enter into plea agreements recommending a particular sentence as a condition of the guilty plea are eligible for § 3582(c)(2) relief. No majority of the justices agreed on a single rationale, The narrowest, most case-specific basis for deciding Freeman, and thus the statement of controlling law, was Justice Sotomayor’s concurrence. United States v. Dixon, 687 F.3d 356, 359 (7th Cir.2012) (applying Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188, 193, 97 S.Ct. 990, 51 L.Ed.2d 260 (1977), to conclude that Justice Sotomayor’s concurrence is controlling).

Justice Sotomayor stated that, generally, a sentence imposed pursuant to a binding plea agreement under Rule 11(c)(1)(C) is- based on that agreement, not on the Guideline range, so that no relief is available under § 3582(c)(2). Freeman, 131 S.Ct. at 2696- (Sotomayor, J., concurring) (“The term of imprisonment imposed by the sentencing judge is dictated by the terms of the agreement entered into by the parties, not the judge’s Guidelines calculation.”). However, two limited exceptions apply. The first is where the parties “agree that a specific ... sentencing range is the appropriate disposition of the case.” Id. at 2697 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(c)(1)(C)). Under this particular type of (C) agreement, “the district court’s acceptance of the agreement obligates the court to sentence the defendant accordingly, and there can be no doubt that the term of imprisonment the court imposes is ‘based on’ the agreed-upon sentencing range within the meaning of § 3582(c)(2).” Id. For the second exception to apply, the plea agreement itself must “make clear that the basis for the specified term” is the applicable Guideline range. Id. at 2697 (stating that the “sentencing range [must be] evident from the agreement itself’).

Here, the Defendant’s written Plea Agreement provided that he was “to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 144 months.” Because there was no specific reference to a Guideline range, the Defendant’s agreement does not qualify for Justice Sotomayor’s first exception. To qualify under the second exception, his Agreement would either have to “expressly use” a Guideline range or the range would have to be “evident from the agreement itself.” Id. at 2697. No Guideline range appears in the written terms of the Defendant’s Plea Agreement. Nor does the Agreement set forth any information about the Defendant’s offense level or [789]*789criminal history category, or make any attempt to link such calculations to the agreed sentence. In short, the written terms of the Agreement itself do not “make clear” that any particular Guidelines range was “employed.” See id., 131 S.Ct. at 2697, 2700 (Sotomayor, J., concurring in the judgment); Dixon, 687 F.3d at 360.

Arguing that he should receive the benefit of the reduction despite his agreement to a binding term, the Defendant points to the Guideline provision that forbids a district court judge from accepting a(C) agreement’without first determining the applicable Guideline range. See U.S.S.G. § 6B1.2(C) (stating that the court may accept a plea agreement that includes a specific sentence if it is satisfied that the agreed sentence is. “within the applicable guideline range,” or that it “is outside the applicable range for justifiable reasons”). He then, cites to the statement from Freeman

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Bluebook (online)
140 F. Supp. 3d 786, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139423, 2015 WL 5970661, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-collins-innd-2015.