Opinion ID: 4540380
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Relief Under the First Step Act

Text: Lastly, McGowan argues that he is entitled to relief from his 280-month sentence because § 401 of the First Step Act, enacted on December 21, 2018, reduced the mandatory minimum penalty under § 801(b)(1)(A) from 20 years’ to 15 years’ imprisonment for offenders with one prior qualifying drug conviction. First Step Act § 401(a)(2). Assuming McGowan has not forfeited this argument by raising it for the first time in his Rule 28(j) letter,7 we conclude that he cannot benefit from § 401. That section expressly instructs that relief is available only to offenders who had not been sentenced as of its enactment date. See id. § 401(c) (stating that § 401 “shall apply to any offense that was committed before the date of enactment of this Act, if a sentence for the offense has not been imposed as of such date of enactment”) (emphasis added). McGowan was sentenced in 2014. He 7 We note that McGowan arguably had no opportunity to raise the argument earlier because his briefing on appeal was completed in October 2018, two months before the First Step Act’s passage. 15 Case: 14-15043 Date Filed: 06/10/2020 Page: 16 of 16 argues that an exception to the Act’s limited retroactivity should apply where, as here, a defendant’s direct appeal was still pending when the Act became law. But we cannot recognize an exception that is contrary to the language of the statute. McGowan is entitled to no relief under the First Step Act.