Opinion ID: 1027865
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Carlous Gerrard Hood

Text: Hood pleaded guilty, pursuant to a written plea agreement, to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. In the plea agreement, Hood stipulated that he was responsible for more than 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine and for at least 300 but less than 400 grams of cocaine powder. The government had also filed earlier an information pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 851, notifying Hood that it intended to rely on Hood's prior North Carolina state drug trafficking conviction to seek an enhanced sentence under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A). The presentence report recommended a Guidelines sentence of 240 months' imprisonment. The report began with a base offense level of 38 under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 for an offense involving at least 1.5 kilograms of cocaine base and between 300 and 400 grams of cocaine powder, and lowered that level by three levels for Hood's acceptance of responsibility, yielding a final offense level of 35. With Hood's criminal history category of II, the resulting Guidelines range was 188 to 235 months' imprisonment. In light of Hood's prior felony offense, however, he was subject to the statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 240 months' imprisonment under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A), and that sentence became the Guidelines sentence under U.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(b) (Where a statutorily required minimum sentence is greater than the maximum of the applicable guideline range, the statutorily required minimum sentence shall be the guideline sentence). Prior to sentencing, the government filed a motion for a downward departure under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) and U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, based on Hood's substantial assistance. The government recommended that the court depart downward from the statutory sentence [of 240 months' imprisonment] to a term of 121 months. At sentencing, the district court began by adopting the pre-sentence report, finding that it accurately calculated Hood's Guidelines sentence. The government then described Hood's substantial assistance and, consistent with its earlier motion, proposed a downward departure to offense level 31, criminal history category II, recommending a 121-month sentence. Acting under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) and U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, the district court granted the government's motion, stating that it [found] that defendant's assistance was extensiveincluding an appearance for testimony at trialsignificant, useful and timely, reliable, complete. The court has given the government's recommendation substantial weight and will sentence the defendant in the range of 29, category II, having in mind the nature of his assistance and recognizing, also, the purposes in particular of rehabilitation and deterrence. The district court then sentenced Hood to 100 months' imprisonment, entering judgment on September 11, 2002. In April 2008, because of Amendment 706 to the Sentencing Guidelines, which retroactively lowered the base offense levels applicable to crack cocaine offenses under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 by two levels, Hood filed a motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) for a further proportionate reduction of his sentence. In his motion, Hood maintained that his original sentence was ultimately based on the crack cocaine offense level 29, with a corresponding sentencing range of 97 to 121 months' imprisonment, and that his 100-month sentence was 13% above the low end of that range. Thus, he argued, under Amendment 706, his offense level should be lowered two levels to level 27, with a corresponding sentencing range of 78 to 97 months' imprisonment, and that his amended sentence should be 81 months' imprisonment, at 13% above the low end of that range. The probation officer submitted a supplemental presentence report that provided that under Amendment 706, Hood's revised offense level was lowered from 35 to 33 and, with his criminal history category of II, resulted in a revised sentencing range of 151 to 188 months' imprisonment. The report concluded, however, that Amendment 706 had no effect on Hood's sentence because, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(b), his Guidelines sentence remained 240 months' imprisonment, the statutory minimum sentence under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A). The district court denied Hood's § 3582(c)(2) motion, ruling that the 240-month statutory minimum sentence barred § 3582(c)(2) relief. The court explained: Pursuant to USSG § 5G1.1, the sentence imposed may not be less than the statutorily required minimum sentence. In this case, the statutory mandatory minimum sentence was deemed to be the guideline sentence under § 5G1.1(b). If Amendment 706 (Retroactive Crack Cocaine Amendment) had been in effect at the time of the original sentencing, it would not have been of benefit to defendant, because the statutorily mandated minimum sentence would have been the guideline sentence anyway. Because defendant's original sentence was based on the statutory minimum rather than the otherwise applicable guideline sentence, notwithstanding departure under USSG § 5K1.1 and 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e), Amendment 706 has no effect on the defendant's guideline sentence. From the district court's order of June 13, 2008, denying Hood's § 3582(c) motion, Hood appealed.