United States v. Eddie Rodriguez-Pinto

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: March 20, 2025
• Docket: 24-6503
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 24-6503 Doc: 40 Filed: 03/20/2025 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 24-6503

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

EDDIE SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ-PINTO,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Elizabeth City. James C. Dever III, District Judge. (2:19-cr-00017-D-1)

Submitted: February 14, 2025 Decided: March 20, 2025

Before NIEMEYER and KING, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ON BRIEF: Richard L. Brown, Jr., LAW OFFICES OF RICHARD L. BROWN, JR., Monroe, North Carolina, for Appellant. Michael F. Easley, Jr., United States Attorney, David A. Bragdon, Assistant United States Attorney, Kristine L. Fritz, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 24-6503 Doc: 40 Filed: 03/20/2025 Pg: 2 of 3

PER CURIAM:

Eddie Samuel Rodriguez-Pinto appeals the district court’s order denying his motion

for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) based on Amendment 821 to the

Sentencing Guidelines. We review the denial of a § 3582(c)(2) motion for abuse of

discretion. United States v. Martin, 916 F.3d 389, 395 (4th Cir. 2019). In considering

whether to reduce a sentence under § 3582(c)(2), the district court must first determine

whether the prisoner is eligible for a reduction and, if so, the extent of the reduction

authorized. Id. The court must then “consider any applicable [18 U.S.C.] § 3553(a) factors

and determine whether, in its discretion, the reduction authorized by reference to the

policies relevant at step one is warranted in whole or in part under the particular

circumstances of the case.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

Here, the district court found that Rodriguez-Pinto was eligible for a sentence

reduction and properly recalculated his revised advisory Guidelines range. But the court

declined to exercise its discretion to reduce Rodriguez-Pinto’s sentence based on its

assessment of the § 3553(a) factors. Contrary to Rodriguez-Pinto’s assertion on appeal

that the court did not adequately explain its reasoning, we discern no abuse of discretion in

the district court’s decision. See United States v. Mangarella, 57 F.4th 197, 203 (4th Cir.

2023) (explaining that “[t]he touchstone” in reviewing an order denying a § 3582(c)(2)

motion “is simply whether the district court set forth enough to satisfy our court that it has

considered the parties’ arguments and has a reasoned basis for exercising its own legal

decisionmaking authority, so as to allow for meaningful appellate review” (cleaned up)).

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Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order. We dispense with oral argument

because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this

court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED