United States v. Troy Burton

327 F. App'x 666

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Decided: June 29, 2009
• Docket: 08-3300
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

ORDER

Troy Burton was sentenced as an Armed Career Criminal and is serving 180 months in prison, the statutory minimum, for possessing a firearm as a felon. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(e)(1). Burton moved to have his sentence reduced pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) because, he says, Amendment 709 to the sentencing guidelines entitles him to a lower sentence. See U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(a)(2), Supp. to App. C 235 (2008) (Amendment 709). The district court denied the motion.

Amendment 709 was not made retroactive by the Sentencing Commission and is not a ground for reduction under § 3582(c)(2). United States v. Alexander, 553 F.3d 591, 593 (7th Cir.2009). More importantly, Amendment 709, which altered the rules for calculating criminal history under the Sentencing Guidelines, has no relevance to the determination whether a defendant qualifies as an Armed Career

Criminal. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.4 cmt. no. 1; United States v. Hobbs, 136 F.3d 384, 388 (4th Cir.1998); United States v. Wright, 48 F.3d 254, 255-56 (7th Cir.1995). Even if the amendment had been made retroactive, it could not have benefited Burton.

AFFIRMED.