Federal Crack Sentence Reductions: Defendants Sentenced Pursuant to 11(c)(1)(C) Agreements Eligible for 3582(c)(2) Relief
By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair
In 2007 the U.S. Sentencing Commission issued a retroactive amendment, Amendment 713, to the Sentencing Guidelines designed to eliminate the sentencing disparities in crack cocaine and powder cocaine cases. The amendment became effective in March 2008, and promptly triggered an outbreak of conflicting appellate court decisions, prompting the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene on several occasions and to restore judicial order (here and here). This past term the Court was once again was forced to confront another issue spun off by Amendment 713: whether the amendment could be retroactively applied in cases where a defendant entered into a plea agreement with the Government for a specific sentence. The Court, in Freeman v. United States, answered that question in the affirmative, although in a plurality decision.
Federal district courts, under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c), generally do not have the authority to “modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed.” This is especially true where the defendant has entered into a plea agreement for a specific sentence endorsed by the sentencing judge. Subsection (c)(2), however, provides the following stipulation: “in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(o), upon motion of the defendant or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or upon its own motion, the court may reduce the term of imprisonment, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable, if such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.”
In 2005 William Freeman was indicted for a litany of crimes, including possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and possession of a firearm. Pursuant to Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 11(c)(1)(C), he entered into a plea agreement with the Government calling for him to plead guilty to all the charges in exchange for a recommended 106-month sentence. The plea agreement specifically stated “[b]oth parties have independently reviewed the Sentencing Guidelines applicable in this case” and that Freeman agreed “to have his sentence determined pursuant to the Sentencing Guidelines.” The recommended 106-month sentence was the minimum sentence recommended on the drug count while a mandatory consecutive sentence was required on the gun count by 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). The trial court accepted the agreement after which it sentenced Freeman to 106 months on the drug count and the minimum 60-month term under Sec. 924.
Shortly after the Sentencing Commission adopted Amendment 713, Freeman filed a motion to reduce his 106-month cocaine sentence pursuant to Sec. 3582(c))(2). Under the amendment, Freeman would face a minimum sentence of 37 to 46 months. The district court denied the Sec. 3582(c)(2) motion and the Sixth Circuit, citing its holding in United States v. Goins, upheld the trial court’s ruling. Both courts essentially held that defendants sentenced pursuant to a plea agreement calling for a specific sentence are ineligible for Sec. 3582(c)(2) relief. This prompted the Supreme Court to intervene and decide the issue—hopefully once and for all. Too many lower courts, at both the district court and appellate court level, have resisted the spirit, if not the intent, of Amendment 713.
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