United States v. Ronald Jackson

952 F.3d 492
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedMarch 10, 2020
Docket19-6288
StatusPublished
Cited by111 cases

This text of 952 F.3d 492 (United States v. Ronald Jackson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Ronald Jackson, 952 F.3d 492 (4th Cir. 2020).

Opinion

PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 19-6288

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

RONALD SAMUEL JACKSON, a/k/a Young,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Harrisonburg. Elizabeth Kay Dillon, District Judge. (5:03-cr-30093-EKD-4)

Argued: October 29, 2019 Decided: March 10, 2020

Before KING, FLOYD, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Rushing wrote the opinion, in which Judge King and Judge Floyd joined.

ARGUED: Lisa M. Lorish, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellant. Jennifer R. Bockhorst, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Abingdon, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Juval O. Scott, Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellant. Thomas T. Cullen, United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellee. RUSHING, Circuit Judge:

When a defendant’s sentence is vacated and the district court resentences the

defendant to a term of incarceration less than the time he has already served, the defendant

may have the option to “bank” the excess time served and credit that banked time toward

a future sentence of incarceration imposed for violating the supervised release term of his

sentence. In this case, we are presented not with a vacated sentence, but with a sentence

reduction pursuant to the First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-391, § 404, 132 Stat.

5194, 5222 (2018). The district court granted Ronald Samuel Jackson’s motion for a

reduced sentence under the First Step Act, reducing Jackson’s sentence from 240 months’

imprisonment and ten years of supervised release to time served (approximately 177

months’ imprisonment) and eight years of supervised release. In reducing the sentence,

the court rejected Jackson’s request for a sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment, which

would have allowed Jackson to bank approximately 57 months toward a future sentence of

incarceration if he violated his supervised release. The court reasoned that the need to

protect the public and the need for deterrence dictated that Jackson not be given banked

time to offset the penalties for future violations of his supervised release, including future

crimes. Jackson argues that the district court abused its discretion by considering the

possibility of banked time in determining an appropriate reduced sentence. Because we

conclude that the district court acted within its discretion in considering banked time and

imposing a sentence of time served, we affirm.

2 I.

A.

Ordinarily, a sentence of imprisonment is final and may not be modified once it has

been imposed, except in narrow circumstances. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). One such

circumstance is when modification is “expressly permitted by statute.” 18 U.S.C.

§ 3582(c)(1)(B).

The First Step Act of 2018 expressly permits sentencing modifications. § 404, 132

Stat. at 5222. As relevant here, the First Step Act makes retroactive certain provisions of

the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-220, 124 Stat. 2372 (2010). The Fair

Sentencing Act “reduced the statutory penalties for cocaine base offenses” to “alleviate the

severe sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.” United States v. Peters,

843 F.3d 572, 575 (4th Cir. 2016). Section 2 of the Fair Sentencing Act modified the drug

quantities required to trigger mandatory minimum sentences for cocaine base (often

referred to as crack cocaine) trafficking offenses; it increased the amount required to trigger

the five-year mandatory minimum from 5 grams to 28 grams and increased the amount

required to trigger the ten-year mandatory minimum from 50 grams to 280 grams. See

United States v. Wirsing, 943 F.3d 175, 179 (4th Cir. 2019) (citing Fair Sentencing Act,

§ 2, 124 Stat. at 2372). Section 3 eliminated the five-year mandatory minimum for simple

possession of crack. Id. (citing Fair Sentencing Act, § 3, 124 Stat. at 2372).

The relevant provisions of the First Step Act apply to “a covered offense,” which

means “a violation of a Federal criminal statute, the statutory penalties for which were

modified by section 2 or 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 . . . , that was committed

3 before August 3, 2010.” § 404(a), 132 Stat. at 5222. The First Step Act provides that “[a]

court that imposed a sentence for a covered offense may . . . impose a reduced sentence as

if sections 2 and 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 . . . were in effect at the time the

covered offense was committed.” § 404(b), 132 Stat. at 5222. Even if a defendant is

eligible for a sentence reduction, however, the decision whether to grant a reduction is

entrusted to the district court’s discretion. § 404(c), 132 Stat. at 5222 (“Nothing in this

section shall be construed to require a court to reduce any sentence pursuant to this

section.”).

B.

Jackson was convicted on May 7, 2004 of conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more

of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). Because of a prior drug

conviction, Jackson faced a twenty-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment and a

ten-year minimum term of supervised release. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A), 851. The

presentence report calculated Jackson’s Guidelines sentencing range as 188 to 235 months,

increased to 240 months because of the mandatory minimum. The district court sentenced

Jackson to the mandatory minimum of 240 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a ten-

year term of supervised release. This Court affirmed. See United States v. Jackson, 166

Fed. App. 54 (4th Cir. 2006).

On January 26, 2019, Jackson moved in the district court for relief under Section

404 of the First Step Act. The parties agreed that Jackson was eligible for a sentence

reduction, because his offense was committed before August 3, 2010 and the penalties

applicable to his statute of conviction were modified by Section 2 of the Fair Sentencing

4 Act. In particular, because Section 2 increased the quantity of cocaine base required to

trigger the statutory penalties in Section 841(b)(1)(A) from 50 grams to 280 grams, and

Jackson was convicted of conspiring to possess 50 grams or more, Jackson was now subject

to the penalties set forth in Section 841(b)(1)(B), which apply to convictions involving 28

grams or more of cocaine base. Under Section 841(b)(1)(B), Jackson’s new statutory

sentencing range was ten years to life imprisonment and at least eight years of supervised

release.

By the time he moved for a sentence reduction, Jackson had already served

approximately 177 months of his 240-month sentence. In his motion, Jackson requested

that the district court reduce his sentence to the new statutory mandatory minimum of 120

months’ imprisonment and eight years of supervised release. Jackson’s new Guidelines

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

Related

Ewing v. Carter
D. Maryland, 2024
Wesson v. USA-2255
D. Maryland, 2024
United States v. Ramone Jones
Fourth Circuit, 2024
Love v. Warden
D. Maryland, 2024
United States v. Eric Morrison
Fourth Circuit, 2023
United States v. Sosebee
Fifth Circuit, 2023
United States v. Keanan Bond
56 F. 4th 381 (Fourth Circuit, 2023)
United States v. John Doe
Fourth Circuit, 2022
United States v. Aaron Burton
Fourth Circuit, 2022
United States v. Travis Chalk
Fourth Circuit, 2022
United States v. Herman Hunter
Fourth Circuit, 2021
United States v. Bryant Jordan
Fourth Circuit, 2021
United States v. Gregg Braxton
Fourth Circuit, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
952 F.3d 492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ronald-jackson-ca4-2020.