FI L ED U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S EL EVENTH CI RCUI T FEB RUARY 4, 2009 THOMAS K. KAH

N CL ERK [ D O N O T P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N o

. 0 8

- 1 2 4 7 4

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
D

. C

. D o c k e t N o

. 0 6

- 0 0 0 9 0

- C R

- 5

- 0 0 1

- R S

U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A
,

P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l a n t

.

v e r s u s

R O N N I E M A P L E S
, a

. k

. a

. A M P ,

D e f e n d a n t

- A p p e l l e e

.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
A p p e a l f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t f o r t h e N o r t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f F l o r i d a

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ( F e b r u a r y 4
, 2 0 0 9 )

B e f o r e B A R K E T T , P R Y O R a n d F A R R I S
, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

. *

P E R C U R I A M :

Honora ble J erome Fa

rris, United States Circuit J udg e for the Ninth Circuit, sitt ing by * desig nation.T h e g o v e r n m e n t a p p e a l s t h e g r a n t o f a s u a s p o n t e 1 8 U

. S

. C

. § 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 )

m o t i o n t o r e d u c e R o n n i e M a p l e s ’ s s e n t e n c e f o r v i o l a t i o n s o f 2 1 U

. S

. C

. § §

8 4 1 ( a ) ( 1 ) & ( b ) ( 1 ) ( A ) ( i i i ) i n ( 1 ) c o n s p i r i n g t o d i s t r i b u t e a n d p o s s e s s w i t h i n t e n t t o

d i s t r i b u t e m o r e t h a n 5 0 g r a m s o f c r a c k c o c a i n e a n d ( 2 ) i n d i s t r i b u t i n g a n d

p o s s e s s i n g w i t h i n t e n t t o d i s t r i b u t e m o r e t h a n 5 g r a m s o f c r a c k c o c a i n e

.

F o l l o w i n g t h e a d o p t i o n o f A m e n d m e n t 7 0 6 t o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s S e n t e n c i n g

G u i d e l i n e s ( U

. S

. S

. G

. )
, t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t r e d u c e d M a p l e s ’ s 1 8 8

- m o n t h s e n t e n c e t o 1

1 6 2 m o n t h s

. A l t h o u g h M a p l e s h a d r e c e i v e d a d o w n w a r d d e p a r t u r e f o r s u b s t a n t i a l

a s s i s t a n c e a c c o r d i n g t o U

. S

. S

. G

. § 5 K 1

. 1
, h i s o r i g i n a l g u i d e l i n e r a n g e o f l i f e

i m p r i s o n m e n t u n d e r § 5 G 1

. 1 ( b ) w a s b a s e d o n a m a n d a t o r y m i n i m u m , n o t o n h i s

i n i t i a l b a s e o f

f e n s e l e v e l u n d e r § 2 D 1

. 1

. W e h a v e r e c e n t l y h e l d t h a t a d e f e n d a n t

w h o w a s s e n t e n c e d s u b

j e c t t o a s t a t u t o r y m a n d a t o r y m i n i m u m d o e s n o t f a l l w i t h i n

t h e s c o p e o f A m e n d m e n t 7 0 6
, i n s p i t e o f a n y § 5 K 1

. 1 d o w n w a r d d e p a r t u r e

. U n i t e d

S t a t e s v

. W i l l i a m s , 5 4 9 F

. 3 d 1 3 3 7 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 8 )

. T h u s , b e c a u s e M a p l e s ’ s

g u i d e l i n e r a n g e o f m a n d a t o r y l i f e i m p r i s o n m e n t w a s n o t r e d u c e d o r o t h e r w i s e

a f f e c t e d b y A m e n d m e n t 7 0 6
, t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t h a d n o b a s i s t o a w a r d a f u r t h e r

Amendment 706, which be came retroa ctive as of Marc h 3, 2008, U.S.S.G. App. C, 1 Amend. 713 (Supp. May

1, 2008), re duced by

two the base offe nse leve ls in crac k coca ine sentenc es ca lculated pur suant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c).

2r e d u c t i o n t o h i s s e n t e n c e , r e g a r d l e s s o f i t s p r i o r s u b s t a n t i a l a s s i s t a n c e d e p a r t u r e

. 2

T h e r e f o r e , t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t e r r e d a s a m a t t e r o f l a w i n r e d u c i n g M a p l e s ’ s s e n t e n c e

b a s e d o n t h a t a m e n d m e n t

.

R E V E R S E D A N D R E M A N D E D

.

Maples urg es on appe al that there is a distinction between the te rms “g uideline ra ng e” 2 and “g uideline sentenc e,” but we have a lrea dy expli citly

reje cted that ling uistic arg ument in Wil liams. 549 F.3d at 1340-41.

3