Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca3-16-01174/USCOURTS-ca3-16-01174-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Anthony Jones
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

___________

No. 16-1174

___________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.

ANTHONY JONES,

Appellant

____________________________________

On Appeal from the United States District Court

for Western District of Pennsylvania

(D.C. Criminal No. 1-06-cr-00001-002)

District Judge: Honorable David S. Cercone

____________________________________

Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)

July 7, 2016

Before: AMBRO, GREENAWAY, JR. and GARTH, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed: August 11, 2016)

___________

OPINION*

___________

PER CURIAM

 

* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not 

constitute binding precedent.

Case: 16-1174 Document: 003112378279 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/11/2016
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Pro se appellant Anthony Jones appeals from an order of the United States District 

Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denying his motion filed under 18 U.S.C. 

§ 3582(c)(2). For the reasons discussed below, we will affirm.

On December 6, 2006, upon Jones’ guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute 50 

grams or more of cocaine base and 500 grams or more of cocaine, the District Court

sentenced him to 292 months’ imprisonment. Because Jones’ conviction involved more 

than one controlled substance, the probation officer completing his presentence report 

relied on the 2005 version of the Drug Equivalency Table, under which the combined 

weight of cocaine and cocaine base found at Jones’ residence – 978.8 grams of cocaine 

and 240.2 grams of cocaine base – converted to 4,999.79 kilograms of marijuana, 

generating a base offense level of 34. Jones did not object to this calculation. We 

affirmed Jones’ sentence. United States v. Jones, 261 F. App’x 412 (3d Cir. 2008).

On September 4, 2009, Jones filed a § 3582(c)(2) motion, seeking a sentence 

reduction based on the United States Sentencing Commission’s amendment of the Drug 

Quantity Table in 2007 – Amendment 706 – which reduced the base offense levels 

applied to crack cocaine offenses by two. The District Court granted this motion on 

September 9, 2009, and reduced Jones’ sentence to 235 months’ imprisonment. Jones 

filed another § 3582(c)(2) motion on December 12, 2011, seeking reduction on the basis 

of Amendment 750, which, among other things, retroactively altered the drug quantity 

Case: 16-1174 Document: 003112378279 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/11/2016
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table for crack cocaine offenses.1 The District Court denied this motion, concluding that 

Amendment 750 “does not have the effect of further lowering the Guideline sentencing 

range that the Court utilized in reducing the Defendant’s sentence on September 9, 

2009.” On July 30, 2015, Jones filed another § 3582(c)(2) motion, seeking reduction of 

his sentence on the basis of Amendment 782, which reduced base offense levels in drug 

cases by two. The District Court granted this motion and reduced Jones’ sentence to 188 

months’ imprisonment. 

Most recently, on January 7, 2016, Jones filed the § 3582(c)(2) motion at issue in 

this appeal – arguing that his Guideline range should have been computed (1) by the 

grouping guidelines at § 3D1.2, rather than by the Drug Equivalency Table, which he 

contends would render him eligible for a sentence reduction under Amendment 750, and 

(2) under § 5G1.2(b), which is concerned with the imposition of sentence upon multiple 

counts of conviction. The District Court denied this motion, observing that “defendant's 

sentence was reduced to 188 months, which is the maximum reduction currently 

permitted by law. Accordingly, this court lacks the statutory authority to further reduce 

defendant's sentence.” This timely appeal ensued.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Although we ordinarily review the 

District Court’s denial of a § 3582(c)(2) motion for abuse of discretion, where, as here, a 

 

1 Amendment 750 reduced the equivalency factor for one gram of cocaine base from 

twenty kilograms of marijuana to 3.571 kilograms of marijuana. U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1. It 

did not change the equivalency factor for cocaine, which remains 200 grams of marijuana 

to one gram of cocaine. Id.

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“case raises a purely legal question concerning the interpretation and legal status of § 

3582(c)(2) and the related policy statement by the Sentencing Commission . . . our 

review is plenary.” United States v. Ware, 694 F.3d 527, 531 (3d Cir. 2012) (exercising 

plenary review over District Court determination regarding applicability of Amendment 

750).

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), a court may modify a defendant’s term of 

imprisonment if it was “based on a sentencing guideline range that has subsequently been 

lowered by the Sentencing Commission.” But if the revised offense guidelines do not 

have the “effect of lowering the defendant's applicable guideline range,” a sentencing 

reduction is not warranted. U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a)(2)(B). Jones, who pleaded guilty to 

one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, relies on two separate 

guidelines provisions, § 3D1.2 and § 5G1.2. He argues that “had the PSR used the 

grouping instead of the drug equivalency table to produce an offense level the defendant 

would not have been prejudiced by two levels . . . and would also qualify for the 

Amendment 750 reduction.” But the grouping guidelines at § 3D1.2 apply only when a 

defendant is convicted upon more than one count. See United States v. Bush, 56 F.3d 

536, 538 (3d Cir. 1995). The same is true of § 5G1.2. See United States v. Ward, 626 

F.3d 179, 184 (3d Cir. 2010). Because Jones was convicted of one count only, neither 

provision applies. Accordingly we will affirm the order of the District Court.

Case: 16-1174 Document: 003112378279 Page: 4 Date Filed: 08/11/2016