Opinion
HEATHER E. WILLIAMS, Federal Defender, DAVID M. PORTER, Assistant Federal Defender Counsel Designated for Service, Sacramento, California, Attorneys for Defendant RAFAEL ARREOLA-SAHAGUN.
BENJAMIN B. WAGNER, United States Attorney, JASON HITT, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Attorney for Plaintiff UNITED STATES OF AMERICA RICHARD ARREOLA-SAHAGUN
STIPULATED MOTION AND [lodged] ORDER TO REDUCE SENTENCE PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) RETROACTIVE DRUGS-MINUS-TWO REDUCTION CASE
WILLIAM B. SHUBB, District Judge.
Defendant, RAFAEL ARREOLA-SAHAGUN, by and through his attorney, Assistant Federal Defender David M. Porter, and plaintiff, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, by and through its counsel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hitt, hereby stipulate as follows:
1. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), this Court may reduce the term of imprisonment 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);
2. On February 27, 2012, this Court sentenced Mr. Arreola-Sahagun to term of 90 months imprisonment;
3. His total offense level was 21, his criminal history category was V, and the applicable guideline range was 70 to 87 months; however, he was subject to a mandatory minimum term of 120 months and the court departed based on the government's motion;
4. The sentencing range applicable to Mr. Arreola-Sahagun was subsequently lowered by the United States Sentencing Commission in Amendment 782, made retroactive on July 18, 2014, see 79 Fed. Reg. 44, 973;
5. Mr. Arreola-Sahagun's total offense level has been reduced from 21 to 19, his amended guideline range is 57 to 71 months, and a reduction comparable to the one received at the initial sentencing would result in a sentence of 42 months, see U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10, comment. (n. 4(B) (2014));
That Note provides, in pertinent part: "Ordinarily, §5G1.1 would operate to restrict the amended guideline range to precisely 120 months, to reflect the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment. See §5G1.1(b). For purposes of this policy statement, however, the amended guideline range is considered to be 87 to 108 months [i.e., the amended guideline range as calculated on the Sentencing Table] (i.e., unrestricted by operation of §5G1.1 and the statutory minimum of 120 months)."
6. Accordingly, the parties request the Court enter the order lodged herewith reducing Mr. Arreola-Sahagun's term of imprisonment to a total term of 42 months, a sentence the parties conclude is fair and reasonable in light of the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and the value of the information provided by the defendant. Respectfully submitted,
ORDER
This matter came before the Court on the stipulated motion of the defendant for reduction of sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2).
The parties agree, and the Court finds, that Mr. Arreola-Sahagun is entitled to the benefit Amendment 782, which reduces the total offense level from 21 to 19, resulting in an amended guideline range of 57 to 71 months. After hearing and considering the oral arguments on this motion, and reviewing the original Presentence Report and the Government's original Motion under § 5K1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines, the court determines that a reduction to a comparable to the one received at the initial sentencing would produce a term of 74 months, see U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10, comment. (n.4(B) (2014)), a sentence the Court concludes is fair and reasonable in light of the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and the value of the information provided by the defendant. The original sentence was three months above the then-applicable guideline range, which because of defendant's substantial assistance was not subject to the mandatory minimum of 120 months. The new sentence is comparably three months above the newly calculated guideline range which is likewise not restricted by the mandatory minimum term.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the term of imprisonment imposed in February 2012 is reduced to a term of 74 months.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all other terms and provisions of the original judgment remain in effect. The clerk shall forthwith prepare an amended judgment reflecting the above reduction in sentence, and shall serve certified copies of the amended judgment on the United States Bureau of Prisons and the United States Probation Office. Unless otherwise ordered, Mr. Arreola-Sahagun shall report to the United States Probation Office within seventy-two hours after his release.