Court Opinion

ID: 9379821
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-16 16:00:48.265324+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:56.691691
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 21-13653    Document: 41-1      Date Filed: 03/16/2023   Page: 1 of 10

                                                    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                    In the
                 United States Court of Appeals
                         For the Eleventh Circuit

                           ____________________

                                 No. 21-13653
                           Non-Argument Calendar
                           ____________________

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                       Plaintiff-Appellee,
        versus
        HECTOR CASTRO,

                                                    Defendant-Appellant.

                           ____________________

                  Appeal from the United States District Court
                      for the Southern District of Florida
                    D.C. Docket No. 9:12-cr-80119-DMM-2
                           ____________________
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        2                      Opinion of the Court               21-13653

        Before ROSENBAUM, JILL PRYOR, and NEWSOM, Circuit Judges.
        PER CURIAM:
                Hector Castro, proceeding pro se, appeals the district
        court’s denial of his 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) motion to reduce his
        sentence pursuant to Amendment 782 of the United States Sen-
        tencing Guidelines. After careful consideration, we affirm the de-
        nial of Castro’s motion for a sentence reduction.
                                         I.
               In 2013, Castro pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with in-
        tent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. In the plea
        agreement, Castro and the government agreed that the offense
        involved 150 kilograms or more of a mixture and substance con-
        taining cocaine. Castro and the government also agreed to rec-
        ommend that the district court impose a sentence of 240 months.
        But in the plea agreement, Castro acknowledged that the court
        had the authority to impose any sentence within and up to the
        statutory maximum of life imprisonment.
               Prior to Castro’s sentencing hearing, a probation officer
        prepared a presentencing investigation report (“PSI”). The PSI re-
        ported that Castro’s offense involved 150 kilograms or more of
        cocaine and found that Castro’s base offense level was 38. After
        applying adjustments because the offense involved possession of a
        dangerous weapon as well as for Castro’s role as an organizer or
        leader and for acceptance of responsibility, the PSI calculated Cas-
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        21-13653               Opinion of the Court                       3

        tro’s total offense level as 41. Based on Castro’s criminal history
        category of I, the PSI stated that Castro’s guidelines range was 324
        to 405 months’ imprisonment. At the sentencing hearing, the dis-
        trict court adopted the PSI’s guidelines calculations. The district
        court then granted a downward variance and sentenced Castro to
        240 months, finding this recommended sentence was reasonable.
               While Castro was serving his sentence, the Sentencing
        Commission adopted Amendment 782 to the Sentencing Guide-
        lines, reducing by two levels certain base offense levels in the
        drug quantity tables. See U.S. Sent’g Guidelines Manual App. C,
        Amend. 782 (U.S. Sent’g Comm’n 2014). The amendment en-
        compassed Castro’s offense. Applied retroactively, Amendment
        782 lowered Castro’s total offense level to 39, changing his advi-
        sory sentencing range to 262 to 327 months’ imprisonment.
               In November 2014, Castro, proceeding pro se, filed a mo-
        tion to reduce his sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) based on
        the retroactive application of Amendment 782. The district court
        denied the motion. Because Castro’s 240-month sentence was
        lower than the bottom of the amended guideline range, the court
        found that he was ineligible to receive a further reduction.
               In August 2021, Castro filed a second pro se motion to re-
        duce his sentence under § 3582(c)(2) based on the retroactive ap-
        plication of Amendment 782. He argued that the Supreme
        Court’s decision in Hughes v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1765
        (2018), allowed the district court to reduce his sentence.
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        4                          Opinion of the Court                       21-13653

               The district court denied Castro’s motion. The court again
        found that Castro was ineligible for a sentence reduction. The
        court also explained that even if Castro was eligible for a sentence
        reduction, the court would not reduce his sentence based upon its
        consideration of the § 3553(a) factors. 1 In addressing the § 3553(a)
        factors, the district court explained that a reduction was not war-
        ranted given “the seriousness of Castro’s crime and the need to
        protect the public.” Doc. 362. 2
                Castro timely appealed to this Court.
                                               II.
              We review de novo a defendant’s eligibility for a § 3582(c)
        sentence reduction. United States v. Bryant, 996 F.3d 1243, 1251
        (11th Cir. 2021). We review a district court’s grant or denial of an

        1 Under § 3553(a), the district court is required to impose a sentence “suffi-
        cient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes” of the
        statute. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). These purposes include the need to: reflect the
        seriousness of the offense; promote respect for the law; provide just punish-
        ment; deter criminal conduct; protect the public from the defendant’s future
        criminal conduct; and effectively provide the defendant with educational or
        vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment. Id.
        § 3553(a)(2). The court must also consider the nature and circumstances of
        the offense, the history and characteristics of the defendant, the kinds of sen-
        tences available, the applicable guidelines range, the pertinent policy state-
        ments of the Sentencing Commission, the need to avoid unwarranted sen-
        tencing disparities, and the need to provide restitution to victims. Id.
        § 3553(a)(1), (3)-(7).
        2 “Doc.” numbers refer to the district court’s docket entries in this case.
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        21-13653               Opinion of the Court                        5

        eligible defendant’s reduction request for abuse of discretion. Id.
        We liberally construe pro se filings. Carmichael v. United States,
        966 F.3d 1250, 1258 (11th Cir. 2020).
                                        III.
              A district court may modify a defendant’s term of impris-
        onment if the defendant was sentenced “based on a sentencing
        range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing
        Commission.” 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). Courts undertake a two-step
        inquiry in deciding whether to grant a defendant’s request to re-
        duce his sentence under § 3582(c)(2). Dillon v. United States,
        560 U.S. 817, 826 (2010). At the first step, the court must consider
        whether a reduction would be “consistent” with the policy state-
        ment set forth at U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10.” Id. at 826. At the second step,
        the court must decide whether to exercise its “discretion” and
        award a reduction based on the § 3553(a) factors. Id. at 826.
               Here, we affirm the district court’s decision denying Cas-
        tro’s motion for a sentence reduction for two alternative reasons.
        First, we conclude that the district court was not authorized to
        award a reduction under § 3582(c)(2) because a reduction would
        not be consistent with the policy statement set forth in § 1B1.10.
        Second, even assuming the district court was authorized to award
        a reduction, we cannot say that the district court abused its discre-
        tion when it concluded that a reduction was not warranted under
        the § 3553(a) factors.
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        6                      Opinion of the Court               21-13653

                                        A.
               We begin by explaining why a reduction was not con-
        sistent with the policy statement set forth under § 1B1.10. Under
        § 1B1.10, a defendant generally is eligible for a sentence reduction
        when the sentencing guideline range he was originally sentenced
        under “has subsequently been lowered as a result of an amend-
        ment to the Guidelines Manual.” U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a)(1). Here,
        there is no dispute that Amendment 782 lowered Castro’s sen-
        tencing guideline range.
               But not every defendant whose sentencing guideline range
        is impacted by an amendment to the Guidelines Manual is eligible
        for a sentence reduction. The reduction must be compatible with
        § 1B1.10 as a whole, and § 1B1.10(b)(2) places limitations on a
        court’s authority to reduce a sentence. Barring special circum-
        stances, which are absent in this case, a court lacks authority to
        reduce a defendant’s sentence to below the bottom of the defend-
        ant’s new, amended guideline range. See U.S.S.G.
        § 1B1.10(b)(2)(A) (“Except [in cases when the government has
        filed a motion to reflect the defendant’s special assistance to au-
        thorities], the court shall not reduce the defendant’s term of im-
        prisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and this policy statement
        to a term that is less than the minimum of the amended guideline
        range determined under subdivision (1) of this section.”).
             Because Castro’s 240-month sentence was already less than
        the minimum sentence in his amended guideline range (262
        months), he was not eligible for a sentence reduction. Reducing
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        21-13653               Opinion of the Court                       7

        his sentence would be inconsistent with § 1B1.10 and thus Castro
        was ineligible for a sentence reduction. Dillon, 560 U.S. at 826.
               Castro nevertheless argues that the Supreme Court’s deci-
        sion in Hughes v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1765 (2018), established
        that he was eligible for a sentence reduction. But Hughes does not
        control here.
               In Hughes, the defendant pled guilty under a plea agree-
        ment that required the judge to impose an agreed-upon sentence
        if the judge accepted the plea. Id. at 1773. This type of plea
        agreement is described in Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure
        11(c)(1)(C) and often is referred to as a “Type-C agreement.” The
        issue in Hughes was whether under § 3582(c)(2) a defendant who
        pled guilty pursuant to a Type C agreement was eligible to pursue
        a sentence reduction based on a retroactive amendment to the
        Sentencing Guidelines. Id. at 1775–77. Because § 3582(c)(2) pro-
        vides that a sentence reduction is available only when a defendant
        “has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sen-
        tencing range that has been subsequently lowered,” the question
        in Hughes was whether a defendant’s sentence is “based” on the
        Guidelines when a binding Type-C plea deal dictates the sentence
        a judge must impose. Id. at 1773 (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2)).
               The Supreme Court held that a defendant with a Type-C
        plea agreement is eligible for a sentence reduction. It explained
        that even when a defendant has a binding Type-C plea agree-
        ment, his sentence is still “based on” the Guidelines because a sen-
        tence imposed pursuant to Type-C plea agreement is “no excep-
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        8                      Opinion of the Court                21-13653

        tion to the general rule that a defendant’s Guidelines range is both
        the starting point and a basis for his ultimate sentence.” Id. at
        1776.
              Castro’s argument that he is eligible for a sentence reduc-
        tion under Hughes fails for two reasons.
                First, Castro did not have a Type-C plea deal. As Castro
        acknowledges in his brief, the agreed-upon sentence in his plea
        agreement did not bind the court and was only a recommenda-
        tion from the parties. Castro cannot base his second § 3582(c)(2)
        motion on Hughes because Hughes had no impact on Castro’s
        eligibility to have his sentence reduced. Whether the Sentencing
        Guidelines served as the “basis” for Castro’s sentence was never
        in question; the nature of his plea agreement never prohibited the
        district court from reviewing his § 3582(c)(2) motion for a sen-
        tence reduction.
               Second, Hughes did not in any way alter the requirement
        that sentence reductions under § 3582(c)(2) be “consistent with
        applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commis-
        sion.” 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). And, as discussed above, the policy
        statement provides that “the court shall not reduce the defend-
        ant’s term of imprisonment . . . to a term that is less than the min-
        imum of the amended guideline range.” U.S.S.G.
        § 1B1.10(b)(2)(A).
              Because Castro’s sentence was less than the minimum of
        his amended guideline range, the district court was not author-
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        21-13653               Opinion of the Court                        9

        ized to reduce his sentence further and properly denied his
        § 3582(c)(2) motion.
                                         B.
                After concluding that Castro had not shown that he was el-
        igible for a sentence reduction, the district court explained that it
        was denying Castro’s motion for a sentence reduction for a sec-
        ond, independent reason. It determined that a sentence reduction
        was not warranted under the § 3553(a) factors. The district court
        found that “relief [was] precluded upon consideration of the
        § 3553(a) factors[,] especially the seriousness of Castro’s crime and
        the need to protect the public.” Doc. 362.
               Castro argues that the district court ignored evidence of his
        post-sentencing rehabilitation that would have informed its eval-
        uation of several § 3553(a) factors. But Castro did not present evi-
        dence of his post-sentencing rehabilitation to the district court in
        his second motion for a sentence reduction. Furthermore, alt-
        hough the district court did not explicitly address and analyze
        each § 3553(a) factor, “[t]he weight given to any specific § 3553(a)
        factor is committed to the sound discretion of the district court.”
        United States v. Croteau, 819 F.3d 1293, 1309 (11th Cir. 2016). We
        cannot say that the district court abused that discretion when it
        found that a sentence reduction was not warranted in light of the
        seriousness of Castro’s crime and the need to protect the public.
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        10                    Opinion of the Court               21-13653

                                       IV.
              For the above reasons, we affirm the district court’s denial
        of Castro’s motion for a sentence reduction.
              AFFIRMED.