Opinion
CRIMINAL 11-10133-FDS
12-22-2023
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ANTHONY HAMILTON, Defendant.
ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTIONS TO REDUCE SENTENCE
SAYLOR, C.J.
On December 18, 2023, defendant filed two letters with this court inquiring whether he could be eligible for a reduction in his sentence under Amendment 821 to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which became effective November 1, 2023. (ECF Nos. 133 and 134). The Court will construe those letters as motions to reduce his sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2).
Under the recently amended guidelines, certain defendants may be eligible for a reduction in sentence if their guidelines calculation at sentencing included either “status points,” if a defendant committed the relevant offense while under an earlier criminal sentence, or zero criminal history points. See U.S.S.G §§ 4A1.1 and 4C1.1.
Here, defendant was determined to be a career offender at sentencing, meaning that he had more than zero criminal history points. That change therefore does not apply to him. Similarly, his career offender status automatically placed him in criminal history category VI, regardless of any status points received in the parallel criminal history points calculation. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(b). Therefore, the amended guidelines concerning status points would not have affected the calculation of his sentence.
Because defendant does not meet the criteria for a reduction in sentence under Amendment 821, the present motions are DENIED.
So Ordered.