Opinion
1:03-cr-00061-JAW
10-22-2015
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. CHRIS POWELL
ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO CORRECT SENTENCE UNDER 28 U.S.C. § 2255
On February 26, 2004, Chris Powell pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon, and on July 21, 2004, the Court sentenced him to 180 months mandatory minimum incarceration based on application of the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). Min. Entry (ECF No. 26); J. (ECF No. 34) (J.). On August 17, 2015, Mr. Powell filed a pro se motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, arguing that his sentence of 180 months must be corrected in light of the Supreme Court decision in Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015) (holding that sentence enhancements based on the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act violate due process, overruling Sykes v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 2267, 2277 (2011)). Mot. for Appointment of Counsel (ECF No. 40). Mr. Powell also asked that the Court appoint counsel to represent him, id., and on September 1, 2015, the Court appointed Assistant Federal Defendant James Nixon to represent Mr. Powell. Am. Order Appointing Counsel (ECF No. 42).
Before he could proceed with a § 2255 petition, Mr. Powell faced a procedural hurdle because he had previously filed a § 2255 petition, which had been denied. See Powell v. United States, No. 1:05-cv-00045-JAW. Therefore, his new petition would be considered a successive petition and potentially be barred. However, Mr. Powell and the Government jointly moved the First Circuit Court of Appeals to authorize a successive § 2255 petition, and on October 20, 2015, the Court of Appeals granted the motion. J. (ECF No. 44).
On October 21, 2015, Mr. Powell filed an unopposed motion under § 2255, asking that his sentence be reduced from 180 months to 120 months, the statutory maximum for possession of a firearm by a felon for a non-Armed Career Criminal Act case. Def.'s Unopposed Mot. to Correct Sentence Under 28 U .S.C. § 2255 (ECF No. 45); Def.'s Corrected Unopposed Mot. to Correct Sentence Under 28 U .S.C. § 2255 (ECF No. 46) (Corrected Mot.). Sentenced on July 21, 2004, Mr. Powell has already served more than 120 months incarceration. J. Mr. Powell represented that the Government does not oppose his motion, a representation the Court accepts. Corrected Mot. at 1.
Based on the holding of Johnson, the Court concludes that Mr. Powell is serving a sentence that violates the United States Constitution and, therefore, relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255(a) is warranted. Furthermore, the Court finds that a sentence of 120 months, followed by a three-year period of supervised release is an appropriate sentence. 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2). Accordingly, the Court grants Petitioner's motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, vacates Petitioner's existing sentence, and sentences Petitioner to serve 120 months in prison, followed by a three-year period of supervised release under the same conditions previously ordered.
With the ACCA enhancement, because the Armed Career Criminal finding made Petitioner's offense a Class A felony with a minimum prison sentence of fifteen years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), the maximum period of supervised release was five years, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3581(b)(1), 3583(b)(1). Without the enhancement, the maximum prison sentence is ten years, 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2), and a maximum period of supervised release of three years, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3581(b)(3), 3583(b)(2). --------
SO ORDERED.
/s/ John A. Woodcock, Jr.
JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 22nd day of October, 2015