Opinion ID: 4528546
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Holloway’s Motion for First Step Act Relief

Text: After the First Step Act was enacted, Holloway moved for a sentence reduction pursuant to Section 404 on February 1, 2019. The 8 Probation Office produced a supplemental PSR, in which it concluded that Holloway was not eligible for a reduction of his term of imprisonment. The Probation Office interpreted Holloway’s motion as one made under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), meaning that any reduction would need to be consistent with policy statements of the Sentencing Commission. This included U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a)(2), which precludes reductions if the relevant amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines would “not have the effect of lowering the defendant’s applicable guideline range.” Concluding that Holloway’s revised Guidelines range was equivalent to his original range, the PSR opined that Holloway was not eligible for a reduction of his term of imprisonment under the First Step Act. 2 The PSR did, however, note that Holloway’s mandatory minimum period of supervised release had 2 Holloway had been sentenced as a career offender, and, accordingly, his Guidelines range depended on the statutory maximum term of imprisonment for his offense. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. In his case, however, that maximum was unchanged by the Fair Sentencing Act. Compare 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) (10 years to life), with id. § 841(b)(1)(B) (10 years to life for a person who has previously been convicted of a serious drug felony). 9 been reduced statutorily to eight years rather than ten. 3 The government subsequently agreed with the PSR’s conclusion that Holloway was not eligible for any relief from his term of imprisonment because his Guidelines range was unchanged. The government also agreed that Holloway’s statutory minimum supervised release term had been reduced and that he was thus eligible for a reduction on that front. The district court, in a one-page order issued on April 8, 2019, agreed with the Probation Office and the government that Holloway was ineligible for a reduction of his prison term, finding that, under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a)(2)(B), “the amendment does not have the effect of lowering [Holloway’s] applicable guideline range[ and a]s such, the defendant is not eligible for a sentence reduction.” Joint App’x at 111. The order did not address Holloway’s supervised release term. 3Because Holloway was sentenced subject to a § 851 information establishing a prior felony drug conviction, he faced statutory minimum penalties of twenty years of imprisonment rather than ten, and ten years of supervised release rather than five. 10 Holloway filed a timely appeal from the order on April 15, 2019. On October 4, 2019, while this appeal was pending, Holloway was released from prison. He remains on supervised release.