Source: http://openjurist.org/998/f2d/497/united-states-v-d-lewis
Timestamp: 2013-05-19 21:13:56
Document Index: 670911402

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 841', '§ 7', '§ 7', '§ 3583', '§ 3583', '§ 3583', '§ 7', '§ 7']

998 F2d 497 United States v. D Lewis | OpenJurist
998 F. 2d 497 - United States v. D Lewis	Home998 f2d 497 united states v. d lewis
998 F2d 497 United States v. D Lewis 998 F.2d 497
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Roger D. LEWIS, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 92-2586.
Argued April 29, 1993.Decided July 8, 1993.
On September 19, 1988, Roger Lewis pled guilty to two Class B felonies: distribution of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). On February 13, 1989, Lewis was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment and five years supervised release. At sentencing, the district court recognized the defendant's cocaine and alcohol dependency and recommended he receive substance abuse treatment while incarcerated. The terms of Lewis' supervised release required that he participate in a urinalysis program and a drug treatment program (if necessary), and that he refrain from using any controlled substance and possessing any drug paraphernalia.
The district court concluded that Lewis had violated his parole by possessing crack cocaine and failing to comply with several other technical conditions of his supervised release. Under the Guidelines, Lewis' possession of cocaine amounts to a Grade B violation; his other conduct constitutes Grade C violations. U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1(a)(2) and (3), p.s. When a defendant has committed more than one grade of violation, the more serious grade controls for purposes of sentencing. U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1(b), p.s. Thus, Grade B is the applicable violation level which, when combined with Lewis' Criminal History Category of IV,1 yields a sentence range of 12-18 months imprisonment.
Because Lewis' term of supervised release is five years, this statute requires that he be sentenced to at least 20 months imprisonment. Another subsection of § 3583 states that upon revocation of supervised release, a defendant may not be required to serve more than 36 months if his underlying offense was a Class B felony. 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3). The government argues that § 3583 permits the district court to sentence Lewis to 36 months imprisonment. We would agree but for a Sentencing Guideline policy statement.
U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(b)(2), p.s. (emphasis added). Both parties agree that the correct interpretation of this policy statement leads to the conclusion that the district court must sentence Lewis to 20 months imprisonment--no more and no less. However, the government contends that the policy statement, like all policy statements, is merely advisory and the district judge may use his discretion to impose a higher sentence, as long as it does not exceed the statutory maximum of 36 months.
While we may have been previously inclined to accept the proposition that policy statements are merely advisory, notwithstanding the language in Williams v. United States, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 1112, 1119, 117 L.Ed.2d 341 (1992), this view has been explicitly rejected by the Supreme Court's recent decision in Stinson v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1913, 123 L.Ed.2d 598 (1993). In reaching its holding that Sentencing Guideline commentary is binding, unless contrary to statute or the Guidelines themselves, the Court had the following to say about policy statements: "The principle that the Guidelines Manual is binding on federal courts applies as well to policy statements." Id. at ---, 113 S.Ct. at 1917.
In light of Stinson, we are compelled to hold that the district court erred by not sentencing Lewis to 20 months imprisonment, absent a departure. From the record, it is clear that the district court, in its pre-Stinson decision, did not consider itself bound by policy statements. Moreover, U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(b)(2) does not conflict with any statute or the Guidelines themselves. Consequently, Lewis must be resentenced.
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