Opinion
Case No. 3-07-CR-92(2)
08-13-2013
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff, v. RONALD HAMPTON, JR. Defendant
District Judge Thomas M. Rose
ENTRY AND ORDER ADOPTING IN PART AND REJECTING IN PART THE
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS (DOC. #179) REGARDING DEFENDANT'S
MOTION TO VACATE, SET ASIDE AND/OR CORRECT PREVIOUSLY IMPOSED
SENTENCE (DOC. #175)
This matter comes before the Court pursuant to the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge to Grant Defendant's Motion to Vacate, Set Aside and/or Correct Previously Imposed Sentence (Doc.#175) of his 132 month sentence of imprisonment previously imposed on May 6, 2011, pursuant to 18 USC 3582 (c) (2) . Defendant requests that he receive the benefit of the retroactivity of the Fair Sentencing Act, pursuant to Dorsey v. United States, 132 S.Ct. 2321 (2012). Dorsey held that the lowered statutory penalties under the Fair Sentencing Act, effective August 3, 2010, applied to all defendants sentenced for cocaine base cases on or after its effective date, regardless of the date the offense was committed.
The Defendant was sentenced on May 6, 2011 to 132 months, after entering a plea to a charge of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute More Than 50 Grams of Cocaine Base, Cocaine and Heroin. The Court also found the statutory mandatory minimum to be 10 years with a maximum of life. Based upon the authority cited, this Court adopts in part the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendations and finds that the Defendant is eligible for a lowered statutory minimum penalty of at least 5 years but not more than a maximum of 40 years imprisonment and at least 4 years of supervised release.
However, the Court, in making Defendant's original guideline calculations for this offense, referred to the Supplement of the 2010 edition of the Sentencing Guideline Manual. In accordance with this Supplement the Court's calculation utilized the 18:1 ratio as 1 gram of cocaine base equaling 3,571grams of marijuana, giving Defendant the benefit of the Fair Sentencing Act.
Therefore, although the Court adopts in part the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendations finding the Defendant's statutory range of sentencing has lowered from a mandatory minimum of 10 years to a mandatory minimum of 5 years, based upon the factors of sentencing under 18 USC 3553 (a) (1) thru (7), including but not limited to the Sentencing Guidelines in accordance with the 2010 Guideline Manual Supplement, the Court finds the previously imposed sentence appropriate. Therefore the Court DENIES Defendant's Motion to Vacate, Set Aside and/or Correct Previously Imposed Sentence.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Judge Thomas M. Rose
United States District Court