Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca7-15-02512/USCOURTS-ca7-15-02512-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Margarito Garcia-Fragoso
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals 

For the Seventh Circuit 

Chicago, Illinois 60604 

Submitted December 22, 2015*

 Decided December 22, 2015 

Before 

DIANE P. WOOD, Chief Judge 

JOEL M. FLAUM, Circuit Judge 

DANIEL A. MANION, Circuit Judge

No. 15-2512 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

v. 

MARGARITO GARCIA-FRAGOSO, 

 Defendant-Appellant.

 Appeal from the United States District 

Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

No. 12-CR-00256 

Lynn Adelman, 

Judge. 

O R D E R 

 Margarito Garcia-Fragoso appeals from the district court’s denial of his motion 

under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) for a sentence reduction based on the retroactive application 

of Amendment 782 to the sentencing guidelines. Because Garcia-Fragoso’s sentence was 

already below the amended guidelines range and the court did not have the discretion to 

go any lower, we affirm. 

 

*

 After examining the briefs and record, we have concluded that oral argument is 

unnecessary. Thus the appeal is submitted on the briefs and record. See FED. R. APP. P.

34(a)(2)(C). 

NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION

To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 

Case: 15-2512 Document: 13 Filed: 12/22/2015 Pages: 2
No. 15-2512 Page 2 

 Garcia-Fragoso pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute cocaine, 

21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking 

offense, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i). Garcia-Fragoso was responsible for at least two 

kilograms of cocaine, so his base offense level for the § 841(a)(1) conviction was 28. His 

guidelines range was 84 to 105 months’ imprisonment (based on a total offense level of 

25 and a criminal-history category of IV), but the district court concluded that a 

below-range sentence was appropriate and sentenced him to 66 months. 

 Amendment 782 lowered by two levels the base offense level specified in the 

Drug Quantity Table, see U.S.S.G. Supp. App. C , amend. 782 (2014), and reduced 

Garcia-Fragoso’s range to 70 to 87 months. The district court denied Garcia-Fragoso a 

reduction because, as his 66-month sentence was already below the amended guidelines 

range, it did not have discretion to grant a reduction. 

 On appeal Garcia-Fragoso argues that the district court did have discretion to 

reduce his 66-month sentence because it exceeded the 60-month statutory minimum. 

See § 841(b)(1)(B)(ii). But as the court explained, it was not authorized to reduce 

Garcia-Fragoso’s sentence below the 70-month minimum of the amended guideline 

range. Any reduction must be “consistent with applicable policy statements issued by 

the Sentencing Commission,” 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2); see United States v. Guyton, 636 F.3d 

316, 318 (7th Cir. 2011), and the policy statements provide that a defendant’s sentence 

may not be reduced to “less than the minimum of the amended guideline range,” minus 

exceptions not applicable here, U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(b)(2)(A); see United States v. 

Cunningham, 554 F.3d 703, 708 (7th Cir. 2009). 

AFFIRMED. 

Case: 15-2512 Document: 13 Filed: 12/22/2015 Pages: 2