UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT 

No. 09-6284

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff - Appellee, 

 v. 

MICHAEL L. FRAZIER, a/k/a Mike, 

 Defendant - Appellant. 

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern 

District of West Virginia, at Charleston. Thomas E. Johnston, 

District Judge. (2:97-cr-00143-2) 

Submitted: July 15, 2009 Decided: July 29, 2009 

Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges. 

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. 

Michael L. Frazier, Appellant Pro Se. John J. Frail, Monica 

Kaminski Schwartz, Assistant United States Attorneys, 

Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. 
PER CURIAM: 

 Michael L. Frazier appeals the district court’s order 

granting his motion for a reduction of sentence pursuant to 18 

U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) (2006). Applying Amendment 715 of the 

Guidelines, see U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (“USSG”) App. 

C Supp. Amend. 715, the district court reduced Frazier’s 

sentence by five months to 235 months of imprisonment. Finding 

no reversible error, we affirm. 

 When calculating an offense level for a defendant 

responsible for more than one type of controlled substance, 

Amendment 715 provides that the court should convert each of the 

drugs to its marijuana equivalent, add the quantities, and then 

look up the total in the Drug Quantity Table to obtain the 

combined offense level. USSG § 2D1.1, comment. (n.10(B) & (D)). 

Utilizing this process, one gram of crack cocaine is equal to 

twenty kilograms of marijuana, and one gram of powder cocaine is 

equal to 200 grams of marijuana. Id. at (n.10(E)). Amendment 

715 instructs that, once a complete offense level is reached 

using the equivalent amount of marijuana for all controlled 

substances, the court should subtract two levels, except in 

certain circumstances not applicable here. See id. at 

(n.10(D)(i)). 

 After calculating the marijuana equivalency for each 

drug and applying the two-level reduction, we find that 

2 
Frazier’s amended guideline range is 235 to 293 months of 

imprisonment. Pursuant to USSG § 5G1.1(c), however, the amended 

guideline range is reduced to 235 to 240 months because Frazier 

was subject to a twenty-year statutory maximum sentence. 

 Although Frazier argues on appeal that he was entitled 

to an even greater reduction in sentence, we find that the 

district court was not authorized to reduce the sentence below 

235 months. Pursuant to USSG § 1B1.10(b)(2)(A), p.s., “the 

court shall not reduce the defendant’s term of imprisonment 

under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and this policy statement to a term 

that is less than the minimum of the amended guideline range.” 

As we recently ruled, this limitation is jurisdictional. United 

States v. Dunphy, 551 F.3d 247, 252 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 

129 S. Ct. 2401 (2009). 

 Frazier nonetheless argues that his original sentence 

was “82 percent of the low end of the guideline range as 

calculated by the court,” and he is therefore entitled to a 

lower sentence pursuant to § 1B1.10(b)(2)(B). We find, however, 

that Frazier’s original 240-month sentence was within the 

“guideline range applicable to [him] at the time of sentencing,” 

3 
4 

USSG § 1B1.10(b)(2)(B), and thus the exception set forth in 

§ 1B1.10(b)(2)(B) does not apply.*

 Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order. 

See United States v. Frazier, No. 2:97-cr-00143-2 (S.D. W. Va. 

Jan. 14, 2009). We dispense with oral argument because the 

facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the 

materials before the court and argument would not aid the 

decisional process. 

AFFIRMED

 *

 Although the district court indicated that it was 

departing downward from the guideline range “[b]ecause the plea 

agreement and the statute preclude a sentencing exceeding 240 

months,” we find that the “guideline range applicable to 

[Frazier] at the time of sentencing” was capped by the statutory 

maximum and was therefore 240 months pursuant to USSG § 5G1.1(a) 

(providing that “[w]here the statutorily authorized maximum 

sentence is less than the minimum of the applicable guideline 

range, the statutorily authorized maximum shall be the guideline 

sentence”).