Opinion
No. 2:94-cr-00294-06 WBS
07-14-2016
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. RICHARD GALICIA, Defendant.
ORDER
Defendant has filed a motion for reduction of his sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). The question presented is whether defendant's sentence of life in prison should be reduced to 444 months. Although it is problematical whether the court's decision has any practical consequence, the court has considered the motion and opposition thereto.
Because defendant was sentenced subject to a mandatory minimum of life in prison, his sentence was not affected by Amendment 782 to § 2D1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines. See United States v. Paulk, 569 F.3d 1094, 1095-96 (9th Cir. 2009); United States v. Sykes, 658 F.3d 1140, 1147-48 (9th Cir 2011).
Defendant argues that because his qualifying felony convictions were reduced to misdemeanors pursuant to California's Proposition 47 he was not in fact subject to the mandatory life sentence. However, the Ninth Circuit has recently held in United States v. Diaz, 2016 WL 1579691, at *5 (9th Cir. Apr. 20, 2016) that Proposition 47 does not undermine a prior conviction's felony-status for purposes of the mandatory sentencing provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 841.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that defendant's Amended Motion to Reduce Sentence Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2)(Docket No. 528) be, and the same hereby is DENIED. Dated: July 14, 2016
/s/_________
WILLIAM B. SHUBB
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE