United States v. Mills

613 F.3d 1070, 2010 WL 3037512
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 5, 2010
Docket08-11760, 08-11797
StatusPublished
Cited by66 cases

This text of 613 F.3d 1070 (United States v. Mills) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Mills, 613 F.3d 1070, 2010 WL 3037512 (11th Cir. 2010).

Opinion

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

In separate appeals, which we have consolidated because they raise the same issue, Andrea Mills and Joshua Brown (collectively “Defendants”) appeal the denial of their motions for reduction of sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). 1 Finding that in both cases, Defendants’ statutory mandatory minimum sentences left the district courts without jurisdiction to hear their sentence reduction motions, we affirm the district courts’ judgments.

We begin with a brief recitation of Mills’s and Brown’s respective circumstances.

I.

A.

Mills and a codefendant were caught in a sting operation selling cocaine base (“crack cocaine”) to a confidential source and indicted for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of crack cocaine and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A)(iii), 846. Mills pled guilty. The district court’s probation office prepared a Presentence Investigation Report *1072 (“PSI”) attributing Mills with a total of 82.6 grams of crack cocaine, which, under the version of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“U.S.S.G.” or “Guidelines”) then in effect, gave Mills a base offense level of 32. U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(c)(4) (2006). 2 Mills’s base offense level was then reduced by two levels because she received a mitiSating role adjustment _ for her participation in the conspiracy. U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(a)(3) (2006). 3 Three levels were *1073 then deducted for Mills’s role-in-the-offense adjustment, U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(a) & (b) (2006), 4 and three further levels were deducted for her acceptance of responsibility, U.S.S.G. § 3El.l(a) & (b) (2006), resulting in a total offense level of 24.

Mills’s prior criminal activity resulted in a criminal history category of III. Based on her total offense level and criminal history category, the PSI recommended a sentencing range of 63 to 78 months’ imprisonment. Because Mills was subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for her violation of § 841(b)(l)(A)(iii), however, her effective (or “applicable”) Guidelines sentencing range became a fixed term of imprisonment, 120 months. See U.S.S.G. § 5Gl.l(b) (2006) (“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 Government moved for, and the district court granted, a departure below the statutory minimum due to Mills’s substantial assistance to the Government. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e); U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 (2006). The court departed downward by two levels to a total offense level of 22. Mills’s new sentencing range became 51 to 63 months’ imprisonment, and the district court sentenced her to 51 months, followed by five years of supervised release.

B.

Brown, like Mills, was caught in a sting operation in which he and a codefendant sold crack cocaine to a confidential informant. 5 They were indicted for one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 846, and one count of knowingly and intentionally aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 50 grams or more of crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Brown pled guilty to the second count, and the Government dismissed the first count.

Brown’s PSI attributed him with 120.2 grams of crack, resulting in a base offense level of 32 under the crack cocaine Guideline then in effect, U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(c)(4) (2006). Like Mills, Brown received a mitigating role reduction for his participation in the conspiracy, though unlike Mills, he received only a two-level reduction as a minor participant. Id. § 3B1.2(b). This reduced Brown’s base offense level by two levels. Id. § 2Dl.l(a)(3). Two levels were then deducted for Brown’s minor role reduction, and three further levels were deducted for Brown’s acceptance of responsibility, id. § 3El.l(a) & (b), resulting in a total offense level of 25.

Brown’s prior criminal activity yielded a criminal history category of III. At sen *1074 tencing, the district court found that category III substantially overrepresented the seriousness of Brown’s criminal history or the likelihood that he would commit other crimes, and departed downward to a criminal history category of II. Id. § 4A1.3(b)(l). Based on Brown’s total offense level and criminal history category, the PSI recommended a sentencing range of 70 to 87 months’ imprisonment. Like Mills, however, Brown’s effective (or “applicable”) Guidelines sentencing range became set at 120 months because he too faced a statutory mandatory minimum sentence under § 841(b)(l)(A)(iii).

At sentencing, the district court rewarded Brown for his substantial assistance to the Government by departing 6 levels downward from the statutory mandatory minimum. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e); U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 (2006). Brown thus received a total of 13 levels’ downward departure from his originally calculated base offense level. With a new offense level of 19, and a criminal history category of II, Brown’s Guidelines sentencing range became 33 to 41 months’ imprisonment. The district court sentenced Brown at the bottom of the range, to 33 months, followed by three years of supervised release.

C.

The district court entered judgment in Mills’s ease on May 7, 2007. On January 31, 2008, the court ordered Mills and the Government to address the possible retroactive application of an amendment to the crack cocaine Guideline. See infra part II. Mills, through counsel, contended that she was eligible for a reduction in her sentence due to the retroactive application of this amendment. The Government opposed the reduction, arguing that the amendment did not apply to Mills and, accordingly, the district court lacked authority to reduce Mills’s sentence. The district court agreed with the Government, ruling on March 24, 2008, that it lacked jurisdiction to modify Mills’s sentence.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Ricky Bynum
Eleventh Circuit, 2025
United States v. Laschell Harris
989 F.3d 908 (Eleventh Circuit, 2021)
United States of America v. Alnardo Suarez
2018 DNH 222 (D. New Hampshire, 2018)
United States v. Jones
District of Columbia, 2018
United States v. Jones
313 F. Supp. 3d 167 (D.C. Circuit, 2018)
United States v. Bobby Earl Lee
714 F. App'x 979 (Eleventh Circuit, 2018)
United States v. Alex Randell
Eleventh Circuit, 2018
United States v. Charles LLewlyn
879 F.3d 1291 (Eleventh Circuit, 2018)
United States v. Byron Nugent
685 F. App'x 17 (Second Circuit, 2017)
United States v. Sawyer
225 F. Supp. 3d 1314 (M.D. Alabama, 2016)
United States v. Tony Lanier Jackson
664 F. App'x 803 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Jorge Bonilla Mesa
649 F. App'x 711 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Parson
645 F. App'x 920 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Darryl Solomon Hope
642 F. App'x 961 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Johnny Lee Leonard
636 F. App'x 1001 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Duane Miller
632 F. App'x 609 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Jeffrey Stringer
636 F. App'x 770 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Luis Valle
635 F. App'x 708 (Eleventh Circuit, 2015)
United States v. Morris
147 F. Supp. 3d 1349 (M.D. Alabama, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
613 F.3d 1070, 2010 WL 3037512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mills-ca11-2010.