Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/553-f-3d-225-594940150
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 21:11:37+00:00

Document:
Party Name: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Darius Durand McGEE, Defendant-Appellant.
Sandra S. Glover, Assistant United States Attorney (Michael J. Gustafson, Assistant United States Attorney, on the brief) for Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney, District of Connecticut, New Haven, CT, for Appellee.
Robert J. Sullivan, Westport, CT, for Appellant.
Before: POOLER, RAGGI, and LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judges.
McGee contends that he is eligible for this two-level reduction because, at sentencing, the district court, though designating him a career offender, see U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1, ultimately based his sentence on the crack cocaine guidelines after downwardly departing based on a finding that the career offender classification overrepresented his criminal history, see U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3(b). Thus, applying the 2001 Sentencing Guidelines, the district court sentenced McGee to 115 months based on a post-departure sentencing range that was calculated as follows: a base offense level of twenty-six (the level corresponding to at least five grams but less than twenty grams of crack cocaine) under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c)(7), minus three levels for acceptance of responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, resulting in a total offense level of twenty-three and criminal history category of six, and consequently a sentencing range of ninety-two to 115 months imprisonment. McGee asserts that after applying Amendment 706 as well as the three-level reduction under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, his total offense level is now twenty-one and his sentencing range seventy-seven to ninety-six months. The district court rejected this argument. Noting that defendants sentenced as career offenders are unaffected by Amendment 706, the district court agreed with the government that McGee was ineligible for a reduced sentence because his pre-departure range, i.e., his career offender guideline range and not the crack cocaine guideline range, was the " applicable guideline range" affected by Amendment 706.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and though recognizing the issue to be a very close one, we hold that McGee is eligible for a reduced sentence, vacate the district court's decision, and remand for reconsideration of McGee's 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) motion for a reduced sentence.

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 § 4
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 § 1291
 § 3582