Opinion
Case No. 7:18-CR-34 (HL)
02-11-2020
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. BALBINO PEREZ, Defendant.
ORDER
Before the Court is Defendant Balbino Perez's Motion for Modification of Sentence. (Doc. 59). On October 23, 2019, the Court sentenced Defendant to a term of imprisonment of 10 months. (Doc. 53). Defendant did not appeal his sentence. After Defendant entered the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence, the mother of Defendant's two minor children initiated custody proceedings, claiming that Defendant committed acts of family violence against her and the children. (Doc. 59, ¶ 3). Defendant requests that the Court modify his sentence to permit him to serve the remainder of his sentence on house arrest so that he may defend himself in the ongoing custody case. (Id. at ¶ 5). For the following reasons, Defendant's motion is denied.
Once a term of imprisonment has been imposed, a district court does not have the inherent authority to modify the sentence. United States v. Moreno, 421 F.3d 1217, 1219 (11th Cir. 2005); United States v. Phillips, 597 F.3d 1190, 1194-95 (11th Cir. 2010) ("The authority of a district court to modify an imprisonment sentence is narrowly limited by statute."). Under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c), a district court may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed except: (1) upon motion of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons; (2) when "expressly permitted by statute or by Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure"; or (3) when the "term of imprisonment [is] based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered" by an amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines. See 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c).
Defendant's motion does not fall within any of the categories authorized by § 3582(c). Having identified no other statute or rule that otherwise would afford the Court the authority to grant Defendant the relief requested, the Court finds that it is without jurisdiction to modify Defendant's sentence. Defendant's motion is accordingly DENIED.
SO ORDERED this 11th day of February, 2020.
s/ Hugh Lawson
HUGH LAWSON, SENIOR JUDGE aks